"Sanctuary" Nearly Fatal For Fort Dix

At first glance, the plot by six recently converted Islamic terrorists to attack Fort Dix in New Jersey with automatic weapons seemed like a ridiculous idea. Why attack a target that was defended by armed security and had, within the confines of the military base, tactical response teams that could respond with significant force and firepower to repel the attack? How did they decide to target Fort Dix?

Media coverage of the foiled plot has offered a mixture of praise for the FBI and condemnation of everyone from President Clinton (for intervening in the former Yugoslavia and sheltering uprooted ethnic Albanians in New Jersey) to President Bush (for encouraging terrorism by our presence in Iraq). However, three sources offered even-keeled and informative reporting and analysis.

The first was a good general account of the plot and the arrest operation in the Washington Post yesterday that detailed each participant as well as how an alert video store clerk tipped off the FBI in 2006 after the co conspirators requested that a VHS videotape be converted into DVD format. The file contained video of the group training at a firearms range while calling for Jihad and importuning the name of “Allah.” The article also provided links to the criminal complaint and affidavit filed by the U.S. Attorney’s office and the FBI. Those documents present a complete description of the defendants, their actions, and their intentions.

The second source was a blog I read regularly, In From the Cold, the author of which often has unique perspectives, particularly on issues involving the military or military intelligence. In a post Tuesday titled “Terror Plot Thwarted,” the author, Spook86, addressed the knee-jerk question many likely had when they first read that the terrorists intended to attack a “secure” military base. Spook86 described some of the inner workings of military bases like Fort Dix, and focused on the security weaknesses that are common to all such facilities. Food delivery drivers bringing eagerly anticipated meals are a welcome and mundane sight at military bases and federal buildings for that matter, and entering the base under the guise of pizza delivery was a well selected tactic. Taxis, shuttle buses, food delivery, all of these are so common that they are rarely screened properly, especially if the driver is recognized by security guards. If you thought a military base on American soil was too secure to be a viable target for terrorists, you will reconsider that position after reading In From the Cold’s analysis of the plot’s potential success.

The third source, and certainly the most disturbing, was yesterday's Fox News story that reported the immigration/citizenship status of the terrorists. According to Fox News interviews with a federal law enforcement source, three of the terrorists were living illegally in the United States. While it may not be unusual for known terrorists to enter the United States illegally, the immigration pattern of these previously unknown terrorists will sound familiar to those who are concerned about America's porous borders. Three of the terrorists, the Duka brothers, were apparently smuggled into the United States near Brownsville, Texas in 1984, when they were children between ages 1-6, along with other family members. The family settled in New Jersey, and, to fit the hotly debated stereotype of so many illegal immigrants, worked various blue collar jobs into adulthood. Of the six terrorists arrested for plotting to assault Fort Dix, one was a cab driver, three were roofers, one worked as a 7-11 clerk, and one worked at his father's pizza restaurant. It was as a delivery driver that one of the terrorists obtained extensive knowledge of base operations. These blue collar hard working illegal aliens were seemingly assimilating into American society, just trying to find a better life than the one they left behind in their home country. Stop me if this story sounds familiar.

These young, hard working blue collar illegal immigrants, however, became enamored with the ideology and "heroism" of al Qaeda and were inspired by the recorded last "wills" of the 9/11 hijackers and according to the Fox report, the group watched video footage containing terrorist training instructions, including simulated and actual attacks on U.S. military personnel. In time, the group progressed from embracing ideology to actively plotting attacks on a variety of nearby targets, eventually escalating to the point where they attempted to purchase automatic weapons from an FBI informant who had infiltrated this illegal immigrant terrorist cell. That is when the FBI made its move. The outrageous aspect of this story is that these terrorists were known to local law enforcement (not as terrorists of course) long before they mutated into al-Qaeda wannabes, but because of city ordinances prohibiting police officers from questioning an individual's immigration or citizenship status, they continued living, working, and plotting in their neighborhood rather than being arrested, included in illegal immigrant databases, or deported. Fox News reported:

FOX News has also learned that there were 19 traffic citations against the Duka brothers, but according to a federal law enforcement source, because they operated in so-called "sanctuary cites," where law enforcement does not routinely tell the Homeland Security Department about illegal immigrants in their towns, none of the tickets raised red flags.

The terrorists in this case scouted multiple targets before choosing Fort Dix because of their familiarity with and proximity to it. If you live near a military base or government installation, be extra vigilant and report any suspicious activity immediately, because if you live in a "sanctuary" city, your city government has tied the hands of law enforcement and placed you in danger. It is no exaggeration when the President states that we must be right 100% of the time to prevent an attack, while the terrorists only have to get it right once. This group might have gotten it right had it not been for the DVD request and an alert store clerk’s willingness to take action. In this case, a Circuit City store clerk did more to protect homeland security than the local government. Rather than protect its citizens, local governments instead offered "sanctuary" to America-hating illegal immigrants who came alarmingly close to slaughtering many of America's finest at Fort Dix.

Are You Worth Kidnapping? Do You Know How to Avoid it? Foiled UK Terror Plot Demonstrates Average Westerners at Risk, at Home or Abroad

If you were to evaluate your value to terrorists as a kidnapping hostage, would you conclude that you are a “not high profile” person? Most people, except for the egocentric among us, would likely view themselves as low profile and of little worth to Islamic terrorists seeking to kidnap westerners. According to police sources in Birmingham, England, that should be of little comfort to you as you reside or travel abroad, as the foiling of an “Iraq Style” kidnapping plot in Birmingham this morning demonstrated. It appears to be another instance of home grown terrorism in the United Kingdom, with the terrorists trying “a different approach.”

Kidnappings are not a new tactic for terrorists, as the kidnapping and subsequent murders of British and American contractors and reporters in Iraq in recent years clearly illustrate. However, the British government, which recently focused on improving security on mass transit systems, must now stretch its investigative resources to include potential plots to kidnap its own citizens who would ordinarily be of no value to terrorists. The unnamed potential victim of the Birmingham plot disrupted by police today has been taken into protective police custody, but at this point it appears the man was selected for kidnapping merely because he was a young, average soldier of the British Military home on leave. The soldier had no reason to consider himself worth kidnapping. He was not a ranking officer capable of influencing war decisions or policies. Since that describes a large number of American and allied military personnel stationed abroad in nations with large or predominantly Muslim populations, this particular plot should be of concern to all.

What do we know about the potential victim of this kidnapping plot? He was in his 20s, and was considered a low profile, low ranking soldier. In all respects a low value target. The terrorists selected him based on unrevealed as yet criteria, observed his daily routine and transportation routes while home on leave, and organized a tactical plan to kidnap the young man. The exposed plot did not include plans for ransom, or demands for the release of terrorist detainees or political exiles. The stated intention of the foiled terrorists was to kidnap the young soldier, film his torture and eventual beheading, and broadcast that film via the Internet as a terrorist recruiting propaganda tool.

With that as the goal, realistically any westerner could be utilized as the sacrificial lamb, so to speak, in such films. One need not be a diplomatic, military, or political persona to be effectively used for this purpose. One need only be a westerner. Islamic terrorists will cheer the beheading of a lieutenant, embassy secretary, or accountant as lustily as that of a lieutenant colonel, embassy DCM, or CEO.

Securing mass transit facilities and implementing explosive/chem/bio detection technologies are within the scope of reasonably expected government protection of its citizens. However, this Birmingham plot, apparently involving British Islamic terrorists seeking to kidnap average “infidels” in the UK, is a frustrating nightmare for intelligence and law enforcement agencies. While the potential victim of this plot is in protective custody, how does a government reassure the general population, from which this target was selected, that the government can protect them? The answer is chillingly simple: Governments can make no such assurances of protection from random targeting of average citizens or visiting westerners.

In this case, a trained British soldier of low rank, home on leave, was selected. Such a target would be unsuspecting and unlikely to take precautions to protect himself from fellow British citizens plotting to kidnap him. What should concern the average American or allied business or leisure traveler is the predictable evolution of the Birmingham plot into plots to kidnap westerners with even less training and situational awareness than this unsuspecting soldier possessed.

With this in mind, Spy the News! urges readers who are serving abroad in military or civilian capacities to review the situational awareness and abduction avoidance skills included in government or military provided training. If your employer did not provide training in abduction avoidance/survival, consult the following basic open-source sites for travel and personal security tips that, while seemingly common sense, are often overlooked by harried travelers on tight schedules:

U.S. Department of State “A Safe Trip Abroad”

Wikipedia “How to Thwart an Abduction Attempt”: This basic resource also includes common street crime situations including rape, child abduction, etc.

The government/DOD provided training in these areas is more detailed and tactically oriented, but the USDOS and Wikipedia tips should prove valuable to anyone lacking formal training. The US Government is constitutionally charged with providing for the “common defense,” meaning national security. Individual security is a matter of personal responsibility coupled with government help in educating citizens how to provide for their own personal defense in situations where government protection is unavailable. Hopefully the thwarting of the Birmingham kidnap plot today will slow terrorist plans to implement this strategy on a large scale throughout the world or perhaps convince them this new direction of attack is of little value compared to more visible hard targets. Hard targets are more easily secured and thus, while more desirable, are actually safer than the average citizen or soldier would be if kidnapping replaced IEDs or sniping as preferred terrorist tactics.

Spy the News! reminds readers to be aware, be safe, and be wise. You have more value as a hostage and potential beheading victim than you likely realize.

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