| Submit your comments on this article |
| Home Front |
| Training for jihad in Beautiful Alabama... |
| 2002-07-25 |
| A training camp linked to Islamic militants has been operating in Alabama, and European law enforcement officials believe Muslim extremists were using it to prepare for a holy war. British authorities also thought that militants from overseas were training in the United States to take advantage of America's gun laws. The looming question for law enforcement is whether there is a connection between the camp and al Qaeda. Well, let's see if it is... An investigation by Britain's Scotland Yard led to the discovery of the camp in Marion, Ala. The facility is called "Ground Zero USA." Pretty dramatic name, but I think it's been used somewhere else... Bullet-riddled police cars and a school bus with mannequin targets are scattered around the property. Inside a huge shed is an equally macabre scene — shot-up mannequins, male and female, in domestic settings, some with red, blood-like stains on them. Pretty obvious what they were practicing. Stupid bastards didn't even bother cleaning up behind them... Ground Zero's operators promised state-of-the-art, world-class training in automatic weapons, urban warfare, SWAT tactics and martial arts, supposedly to fight terror attacks. Marion Police Chief Tony Buford said he became suspicious of the use of police cars and buses as targets. Yeah. That'd ring a bell with me, too. So what'd you do, Tony? "It was rumored that the camp here was used as training site for possible people that were sent here to do bodily harm to Americans," Buford told ABCNEWS. Yeah, we guessed that. What'd you do, Tony? The suspected terror ties of the Alabama camp were unknown until after Sept. 11, when officials in London arrested an accused al Qaeda supporter, Zain-ul-Albidin They changed the subject. Tony didn't do anything... He is charged with operation of a Web site, under the name of Sakina Security, allegedly recruiting Muslims for an Islamic jihad or holy war. He is now on trial in London. The site, since taken down by British authorities, described what seemed to be the Alabama camp, including live-fire exercises at a state-of-the-art shooting range in the United States — something that would not be legal in Britain. The actual owners of camp, who are also British, say it was used primarily to train law enforcement personnel. Officials consider them unwitting accomplices. The camp owners declined to talk to ABCNEWS. Sounds like they're either stupid or complicit. If I were either, I wouldn't want to talk to anyone, either. |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |
| #4 Oh, almost forgot: the company bills itself as "Islamic threat management"... |
| Posted by: Fred 2002-07-26 06:10:34 |
| #3 There are two links buttons, one of which is busted - guess it goes to the decoys. The real one is the one in the upper right corner. It has not only the "Jihad in Minanao" link ("Abu Sayyaf need you"), but the "Hezb-e-Mughalstan," "Ayoh Jihad" (a click through to "Jihad in Chechnya"), a link to Harkat-ul-Mujaheddin (Kashmir Killer Korps), and Call of Islam - always such a pleasant read. |
| Posted by: Fred 2002-07-26 06:08:01 |
| #2 Whoa. I somehow missed the "Links" button, which clearly links to sites like "Jihad in Mindanao". That's good enough for me: talk about operating right in the open! |
| Posted by: Dan Hartung 2002-07-26 00:28:52 |
| #1 Take a look: Sakina Security Service (via Alexa). Click around; it's mainly indistinguishable from a low-rent international security services firm. Then there's the "Ultimate Challenge" link: THE ULTIMATE JIHAD CHALLENGE THE ULTIMATE JIHAD CHALLENGE IS A TWO-WEEK COURSE IN OUR 1,000-ACRE STATE OF THE ART SHOOTING RANGE IN THE UNITED STATES. DUE TO THE FIREARMS LAW OF THE UK ALL SERIOUS FIREARMS TRAINING MUST BE DONE OVERSEAS. THE COURSE EMPHASIS IS ON PRACTICAL LIVE FIRE TRAINING. YOU WILL FIRE BETWEEN 2,000 TO 3,000 ROUNDS OF MIXED CALIBER AMMUNITION. CLASS THEORY IS KEPT TO A MINIMUM. YOU WILL BE TAUGHT THE FOLLOWING SKILLS: - * WEAPONS FAMILIARIZATION * LIVE FIRE MARKMANSHIP * LIVEFIRE FIREARMS DRILLS * LIVE FIRE PEDESTRIAN ESCORT * ACTIONS ON LIVE FIRE * TACTICAL AMBUSH (UNDER FIRE) * LIVE FIRE TACTICAL TEAM FORMATION * LIVE FIRE WORKING AS A TEAM (UNDER FIRE) * LIVE FIRE VEHICLE ANTI-AMBUSH DRILL * LIVE FIRE SHOOTING ON THE MOVE * LIVE FIRE ENGAGING MULTIPLE TARGETS * LIVE FIRE CONCEALED CARRY * LIVE FIRE COVER & CONCEALMENT * LIVE FIRE PRO-ACTIVE ENCOUNTER * LIVE FIRE SHOOTING FROM MULTIPLE POSITIONS * LIVE FIRE COMBAT JUNGLE RUN * LIVE FIRE SNIPER / COUNTER SNIPER * LIVE FIRE SHOOTING AT, THRU & FROM VEHICLE * LIVE FIRE HOSTAGE RESCUE * LIVE FIRE NIGHT & DIM LIGHT SHOOTING * LIVE FIRE WEAPONS FIELD STRIPPING & MAINTENANCE * UNDERSTANDING AMMUNITION CAPABILITIES Sakina security services provide an instructor development course for the students who want to make a career out of this specialist training. I hesitate to characterize this as "terrorist training" solely on the above basis, without interviewing any "graduates", but it's the kind of thing that could easily serve as a cover (or even just a front). |
| Posted by: Dan Hartung 2002-07-26 00:23:03 |