February 22, 2008

Preview of McCarthy Book

Commentary has a preview of Andrew C. McCarthy's upcoming book, an excerpt titled "When Jihad Came to America", the story of the "blind sheikh" Omar Abdel Rahman, who provided the inspiration if not the order to assassinate Rabbi Meir Kahane in 1990, and led the New York cell of jihadists that eventually bombed the World Trade Center in 1993.

I was delighted to hear a couple months ago that McCarthy was preparing to release his own memoir of the events of the 90's , and I pre-ordered it right away. McCarthy was an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the SDNY, and along with Patrick Fitzgerald, prosecuted Rahman, and Kahane's assassin, Sayyid Nosair and others in the "Day of Terror' trial in 1994-1995.

I have a great deal of respect for McCarthy, and I'll be particularly interested to read his treatment of the role of Ali Mohamed in the cases he prosecuted, and his impressions of this most interesting player in the "path to 9/11."

Mohamed was, at various times, an Egyptian soldier, a U.S. citizen, a committed jihadist, a U.S. Army sergeant, the head of security for Osama bin Laden, a Special Forces trainer at Ft. Bragg, a plotter in the 1998 African Embassy bombings, a Silicon Valley businessman, a CIA asset, a trusted member of bin Laden's inner circle, and an FBI informant.

While still active in the U.S. Army, Ali Mohamed was spending weekends off from Ft. Bragg, in upstate New York helping to train the team of terrorists that eventually bombed the WTC in 1993.

Mohammed was finally convicted for his role in the African Embassy bombings, and was said to have pleaded guilty, but no record has been made public of his sentencing, and his current whereabouts, either deep in the federal prison system... or not, is unknown, at least to us regular citizen types. And while I'm sure McCarthy is limited by professional ethics and possible national security issues in what he can reveal in the book, I do hope he can shed some light on this elusive character.

Was Ali Mohamed always a committed jihadist, loyal forever to bin Laden, and a traitor to the Army and to his United States citizenship? Or was he perhaps the deepest-ever U.S. intelligence asset infiltrated into the inner circle of bin Laden's organization? Or was he, at one time or another, both?

Is Ali Mohamed rotting in a federal prison for providing photographs and logistics for the 1998 African Embassy bombings, or getting somewhat better treatment as an ongoing source of information on the jihad for the benefit of U.S. intelligence? Were the documents found in the apartment of Rabbi Kahane' s assassin, and traceable to Ft. Bragg, stolen and supplied to the murderers by Ali Mohamed?

Why did the 9/11 Commission not want to go near the story of Ali Mohamed? And how has a story this compelling and bizarre managed to stay beneath the radar in the years since 9/11?

Just a few of the questions I'm hoping "Willful Blindness" may answer for us. Can't wait.

Related:

Wizblog 3/8/07

Ali Mohamed Timeline (pdf)
(Peter Lance has published an exhaustive account of the Ali Mohamed story. This timeline linked above is included in his book "Triple Cross.")

Ali Mohamed timeline - Cooperative Research

The Ali Mohamed FBI Bungle

Posted by dan at February 22, 2008 12:38 AM