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Posts Tagged ‘Nuclear Facilities’

Dem. Sen. Charles Schumer Calls for Wider Probe into Sharif Mobley as Ties to Terrorist Cleric al-Awlaki Disclosed

Saturday, March 13th, 2010

Democratic Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY) today became the first major US politician to speak out about the Sharif Mobley matter

With the disclosure of Mobley’s ties to al-Queda leader al-Awlaki today, calls continue to grow for a wider investigation into facts surrounding the arrest and subsequent escape attempt of American jihadist Sharif Mobley in Yemen.  Democratic Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY) called for a wider probe:

(CNN) — A U.S. senator is calling for a federal probe into the system of background checks for employees at nuclear plants after learning that a suspected al Qaeda member from New Jersey worked at five such sites.

“We simply cannot tolerate at any time having someone with terrorist ties working at a nuclear plant, period,” Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-New York, said in a written statement Saturday.

“It seems like common sense but clearly we need to tighten up the system.”

Schumer’s comments focus attention on how an extremist like Sharif Mobley could have worked in US nuclear facilities and whether a more strigent background checks regime should be put into place.  Considering Mobley’s 2006 comments to acquaintence Ramon Castro to “Get the hell away from me, you Muslim killer!”, the fact Mobley passed a 2008 background check to allow him access to US nuclear facilities (according to PSE&G Nuclear spokesman Joe Delmar) is very troubling indeed.

Schumer’s comments may be an attempt by Democrats to get ahead of the story, something they failed to do in the case of the Christmas Day bomber.  If so, this is a wise move by Democrats, as they are also vulnerable to Republican demagoguery regarding Mobley as Mobley was previously a Democratic activist who was paid by former Democratic Governor Jon Corzine’s (D-NJ) campaign in 2005 to push Democratic turnout.

In the days to come, we can expect calls for disclosure of the use of prior US intelligence regarding Mobley, such as whether Mobley was on the “no fly” list or whether he was free to return to the United States prior to the public disclosure of his arrest. Another issue is the interrogation of Mobley, which obviously is of supreme importance right now, to determine if any plot against a US nuclear facility may be planned by Al-Queda and its extremist cleric leader in Yemen, al-Awlaki.   Similar to the failed Christmas Day bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, it was disclosed today that Sharif Mobley had ties to al-Awlaki while in Yemen. This case may draw parallels to the case of the Christmas Day bomber, who was also known to federal authorities yet allowed to board the transatlantic flight bound for Detroit that he unsuccessfully tried to bring down.

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Breaking: Sharif Mobley Tied To al-Queda Terrorist Leader Anwar al-Awlaki

Saturday, March 13th, 2010

American Jihadist Sharif Mobley Has Ties to Al-Queda Terrorist Leader and Yemeni Cleric Anwar Al-Awlaki

US authorities are now beginning to admit that Sharif Mobley, the American citizen from Buena, NJ who moved to Yemen in 2008 to pursue jihad, had strong ties to Al-Queda in Yemen, specifically Anwar al-Awlaki, the radical Islamic cleric who communicated with and inspired Ft. Hood terrorist killer and US Army Maj. Nadal Malik Hassan:

A New Jersey nuclear plant laborer arrested in Yemen with 10 other suspected al Qaeda members was in contact with the same radical Yemeni-American cleric tied to Fort Hood shooting suspect Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, federal law enforcement officials told ABC News.

The New Jersey man, Sharif Mobley, was detained by Yemeni security forces earlier this month and taken to a hospital for medical treatment. He allegedly tried to escape from the hospital over the past weekend by grabbing a security guard’s gun and engaging in a gunfight that killed one of the guards.

As speculated by CentristNet a few days ago, it appears that the US government had knowledge of Sharif Mobley’s activities for “some time” before the public disclosure of his arrest by Yemeni authorities a few days ago:

U.S. on Mobley: ‘Reviewing His Past Activities’

U.S. law enforcement officials said they have been aware of Mobley for some time, and the FBI’s Baltimore field office currently is investigating him.

Did America Catch Another Lucky Break, like on Christmas Day, With the Yemeni Arrest of former US Nuclear plant worker and present al-Queda operative Sharif Mobley?

So far, the establishment media appears to be doing everything it can to downplay or otherwise dilute the importance of the Sharif Mobley story, as it very well could be that Yemeni authorities’ arrest of Mobley a few weeks ago (or months ago?) may have been yet another lucky break, similar to the Christmas Day al-Queda plot, for America in the War on Terror, disrupting a possible al-Queda plot against US nuclear facilities. The American media needs to do its job, and press the Obama Administration to explain exactly what its counterterrorism units were doing to track Mobley and ensure he could not return to the United States as a part of any possible al-Queda plot regarding nuclear facilities. For starters, was Mobley on a no-fly list, or was he in bureaucratic limbo and not on that list, like attempted Christmas Day bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab.  ABC managed to obtain this quote from Yemeni authorities, but so far no on-the-record statements of any kind from the US government:

Mohammed Albasha, a spokesman for the Yemeni embassy in Washington, told ABC News that details of Mobley’s case “will be clearer in a couple of days.”

Asked about Mobley’s apparent connections with the cleric, Anwar al-Awlaki, Albasha said he was not surprised because radicals and extremists in Yemen seek Awlaki out.

“He is a fixture in jihad 101,” Albasha said of Awlaki.

The now-admitted Mobley link to Al-Awlaki, who is “a fixture in jihad 101”, is a giant red flag and should spur some intensive investigation by the US counterterrorism authorities and focus by the establishment media as to who knew what and when and further questioning of the US counterterrorism authorities as to what precautions are being taken now to ensure any Al-Queda plot on any of the six US nuclear facilities in which Mobley worked from 2002-2008 is quickly crushed by US and Yemeni authorities. Of course, the interrogation of Mobley could be a critical source of intelligence on any such plot or other activities planned by Al-Awlaki, and we can only hope that the Obama Administration’s HIG unit, or High Value Interrogations Group, has been activated and is handling the Mobley interrogation. As for now, the American establishment media is in dereliction of its duty to investigate and report on this issue and most others surrounding the Mobley case.

While the establishment media was quick to label American domestic killers Andrew Stack and John Bedell “right wing extremists”, despite their ties to left wing causes (Bedell was a registered Democrat, Stack’s suicide note praised Communism), no such labeling or discussion of any kind has occurred regarding Mobley, who was a Democratic activist in New Jersey who was actually paid by former Democratic Governor Jon Corzine’s (D-NY) campaign to turn out the Democratic vote in 2005. Instead, amazingly, the establishment media has managed to “blame Bush” for Mobley’s jihadist activities, claiming that Mobley’s terrorist moves are the result of the American wars in Iraq and Afghanistan:

WASHINGTON — The arrest in Yemen of a New Jersey man accused of joining Al Qaeda is the latest in an alarming string of cases involving radicalized American Muslims, a trend some experts link to the duration of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

About a half hour ago the AP released details on how Mobley tricked his Yemeni guard into unshackling Mobley for prayers, allowing Mobley to use his apparent high level of terrorist training to quickly murder that Yemeni guard and seriously wound another before being taken back into Yemeni custody:

New details about the episode obtained by The Associated Press indicate Mobley had a level of training and cunning characteristic of the al-Qaida terror network.

Two senior Yemeni officials involved in Mobley’s case said he was being treated for complications from a metal rod implanted in his leg some time in the past. The prison doctor had asked to transfer him to the hospital where he stayed for a week.

The officials agreed to discuss details of Mobley’s attempted escape on condition of anonymity because the investigation has not finished.

At the hospital, Mobley befriended his guards and asked them to teach him Arabic. He performed prayers, read the Quran with them.

On the day of the incident, the officials said, Mobley asked his guard to unshackle him from his hospital bed at prayer time. The guard did, but went into a washroom ahead of Mobley to perform ritual ablutions required before the five daily prayers in Islam, leaving his gun lying unattended.

Mobley snatched the gun and shot the guard twice — first in the head and the second in the chest — as he walked out of the washroom.

When a second guard outside heard the shots, he rushed in. Mobley shot him in the kidney and abdomen, leaving him in serious condition.

Mobley was then chased around the hospital until he surrendered.

One of the senior officials said Mobley’s targeting indicates he is highly trained in the use of firearms.

With US authorities now confirming that Mobley was a “highly trained” Al-Queda operative, America needs to know the details of our government’s activities to monitor, track and disrupt any plots Mobley, Al-Awlaki were planning in Yemen and further needs to know if the Obama Administration’s much heralded August 2009 HIG detainee interrogation program (which replaced Bush’s program) is now in operation regarding Mobley, as it should be. It is important to recall that the HIG was not in operation in the aftermath of the Christmas Day terrorist incident, despite Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair’s claim in January 2010 that it was operational and should have been used in that instance.

As the health care debate nears its crescendo in Washington DC over the next week, it appears the establishment media would rather this Mobley story not be properly covered, and certainly the Obama Administration wants no part of a potential replay of the detailed digging done by the media in the aftermath of the prior lucky break America received when Al-Queda terrorist Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab failed in his mission to kill hundreds of Americans over Detroit on Christmas Day.

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Sharif Mobley Working With al-Qaida in Yemen on Plan to Attack a US Nuclear Power Station?

Thursday, March 11th, 2010

Was apparent al-Queda member and former worker at US nuclear power stations Sharif Mobley working in Yemen on a plot to attack US nuclear facilities?

Today’s fast-moving developments regarding apparent American Al-Queda member and former Buena, New Jersey resident Sharif Mobley could add up to another lucky near-miss for America regarding a pending al-Qaida terrorist attack on the homeland.   On Christmas 2009, America was blessed by quick-thinking passengers and perhaps a faulty fuse which stopped Nigerian al-Qaida terrorist Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab from blowing up Northwest Airlines flight 253 over suburban Detroit. Today, we learn that Somali-American jihadist Sharif Mobley, who has apparently lived in Yemen since late 2008 and was recently detained in a Yemeni security sweep for al-Qaida militants and reportedly killed a Yemeni guard in an escape attempt, worked extensively at several US nuclear power plants from 2002-2008.

Back in 2002, 9/11 mastermind Khaled al-Sheikh Mohammed (“KSM”) was interviewed by Spanish newspaper El Mundo, and KSM had this to say about attacking US nuclear facilities:

The idea came several years later from al-Qaida’s military committee when it decided to refine a previously aborted plan – to fly airliners into 12 major American buildings – “in order to cause the greatest possible number of deaths and deal a huge blow to America on its own soil”, according to Mohammed. “It was decided to abandon nuclear targets for the moment,” Mohammed explained. “I mean for the moment,” he added.

It seems clear from KSM’s comments that an attack on US nuclear facilities has been on the radar for al-Qaida for quite some time and is a long term goal for the terrorist group. Sharif Mobley’s many years (2002-2008) of access to secure portions of US nuclear facilities, even during period of time well after his apparent radicalization (2006 comment to acquaintance and Army veteran Ramon Castro, “Get the hell away from me, you Muslim killer!”), creates the possibility that Mobley was recruited by al-Qaida to travel to Yemen and plan a possible al-Qaida attack on a US nuclear power plant, perhaps one to which Mobley previously had access. The Congressional Research Service has specifically warned of the vulnerability of nuclear power stations to a potential terrorist attack.

While the full extent of Mobley’s prior work experience is unclear, it appears that for six years (2002-2008), he “carried supplies and did maintenance work at the plants on Artificial Island in Lower Alloways Creek, and worked at other plants in the region as well.”  As such, Mobley very likely had substantial knowledge of the physical layout of several US nuclear facilities and perhaps some information on security at those facilities. It is possible that Mobley may have been working with al-Qaida on a plan in which Mobley would return to the United States, regain his work position which allowed access to US nuclear power stations, and use that access to facilitate an attack by al-Qaida on a US nuclear power plant. Perhaps Mobley’s prior work history at nuclear installations and al-Qaida’s clearly stated goal to launch an attack on a US nuclear installation is simply a coincidence.

At a very minimum, an immediate review of the security procedures of US nuclear power plants should be commenced considering Mobley obtained a security clearance as late as 2008, despite exhibiting signs of Islamic extremism years before. Regardless, in coming days, we can expect politicians to begin asking these types of questions and for a full review of the entirety of US investigations and intelligence, if any, that existed on Mobley before the public exposure of his detainment in Yemen.   This November 2009 interview of former CIA operations officer Charles S. Faddis demonstrates both the desirability of nuclear power plants to terrorists as a target and the potentially unimaginable damage from a successful terror attack:

Q. In relation to the previous question, and given that the 9/11 attack was carried within the U.S. territory, would you agree that a terrorist attack using WMD might be more likely to occur by disrupting/destroying facilities inside the U.S. (such as nuclear power plants), rather than through an action carried from abroad?

I think that our enemies have shown that they are clever, adaptable and brutal. They are very good at finding ways to avoid our defenses and security measures and turn our perceived strengths against us. If a terrorist group can seize and meltdown a nuclear power plant on U.S. soil, it can avoid all of the technological hurdles inherent in building a nuclear weapon. A nuclear reactor will not explode like an atomic bomb, but the radiation produced by a meltdown could kill tens of thousands and render huge areas uninhabitable for generations. We need to pay considerably more attention to the security of our nuclear power plants in the United States and substantially enhance their defenses.

UPDATE: Hotair links over, thanks for the link, re the speculation of Mobley’s possible role in AQIY. Ed makes an interesting point about Mobley’s intel value to AQIY:

But did AQ intend to attack nuclear power plants in the US with Mobley as its point person? Fox News reports that their sources in “law enforcement” don’t see a link between his work before leaving the country and whatever AQ had in mind when it sent him back. It could just be coincidental, as a trip toYemen to study Islam and Arabic would almost certainly have raised red flags in a recertification process. Mobley may have been more valuable in supplying intel on security procedures rather than as a terrorist attacker.

Undoubtedly, AQ sees nuclear-power plants as a highly desirable target, despite their occasional enviro-freak posturing. The fact is that we don’t have enough facts to say one way or the other, and speculation isn’t the same as fact. He could just as easily been considered a potential assassin based on his access to political campaigns. At the least, though, this should be considered a serious leak for nuclear security, and stations should adjust their protocols accordingly.

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