There's very little detail available on Abdullah al Mujahir (a.k.a. Jose Padilla), the American citizen who is accused of being the operative behind a foiled al Qaeda dirty-bomb plot. Like the British "shoe-bomber" Richard Reid, he apparently converted to Islam while in prison, and received his terrorist training in Afghanistan and Pakistan after his release.
Lots of questions here: What prison? Who was the "mullah in charge?" Was he recruited for al Qaeda membership in the prison, or did that happen at some Islamic Center after his release? In Reid's case, it appears that the conversion to Islam happened in prison, while the recruitment occurred through people he met at the Brixton mosque in Gresham Road, South London after his release. Did Padilla's conversion-recruitment-training follow a similar pattern? How many others were recruited through these particular channels? John Walker Lindh, of course, skipped the prison phase, going straight to recruitment at the Mill Valley Islamic Center, followed by overseas terrorist training, but it's still the basic pattern.
How many home-grown American converts to radical Islamism do you suppose there are in this country? John Walker and Jose Padilla can't be the only ones. They would seem to be the most valuable (to the enemy) and dangerous kind of operative, not simply because they possess US passports but because they would have a much better chance of successfully "walking among us" than outlandish freaks like Mohamed Atta. I haven't seen any attempts to discuss the extent of this problem lately, and it seems pretty important.
I assume the authorities have been investigating and keeping an eye on the mosques and the prisons for some time now. Ashcroft and co. deserve credit for catching this guy, of course. But I'm kind of surprised that they haven't nabbed more of them.
Posted by Dr. Frank at June 10, 2002 11:02 AM | TrackBack