On January 4, 2007, on his CNN Headline News program, Glenn Beck, had a segment titled “The Real Story - Arizona and Terrorism”.  In the segment, Beck outlined how Phoenix has become a hotbed of “isolated incidences” with regard to Phoenix which, taken separately, get little notice.  However, it’s worth looking into a little further.

Beck reminds us about “that FBI memo from right before 9/11 that caused a huge political uproar because it supposedly had documented the idea that Osama bin Laden was sending terrorists to flight schools in the U.S.”

He continues “Guess what—it’s actually called ‘The Phoenix Memo’ because it was written by the Phoenix FBI. It reads, in part, quote, ‘Phoenix has observed an inordinate number of individuals of investigative interest who are attending civil aviation colleges in the State of Arizona.’” Hani Hanjour, who flew American Airlines Flight 77 into the Pentagon on September 11, 2001, was one such student who attended the University of Arizona and a flight school in the area.  Hanjour’s roommate in Mesa, Arizona, was Nawaf al-Hamzi, a hijacker who was also on Flight 77 as it smashed into the Pentagon in the worst terror attack on U.S. Soil.  Salem al-Hamzi, another hijacker from Flight 77, is listed as a former Arizona resident.

Also attending the University of Arizona before September 11 was Muhammad al-Qudhai’een, who was arrested and removed from an America West flight in Columbus, Ohio, in 1999 after jiggling a cockpit door.  He was then deported to Saudi Arabia.  Arizona State University student, Hamdan al-Shalawi, was with al-Qudhai’een on that flight.

In May, 2003, former Prescott aviation student, Zakaria Soubra, known as an Arizona recruiter for a militant Islamic group, was deported to Lebanon after testifying to a federal grand jury in Virginia.

The connection to Arizona and possible terrorism goes beyond Beck’s original report.  While researching my column, “Operation Baby Milk”, I came across the criminal activity of one Samih Fadl Jamal, of Jamal Trading Company in Tempe, Arizona.  “Jamal Trading Company was only one in a network of businesses owned and operated by foreign nationals and/or naturalized citizens of Middle Eastern descent who are engaged in the trafficking of stolen infant formula and other goods,” said J. Swain Granieri, a detective with the Phoenix Police Department Organized Crime Bureau and a member of the Joint Terrorism Task Force in “14 Arrested in Alleged Money-Laundering Operation in S.W” by Joseph A. Reaves in The Arizona Republic on August 1, 2003.

Investigators said that Jamal employed at least twenty individuals to steal baby formula across the country from 1998 to 2003.  Jamal Trading Company profited over $11 million by selling the stolen goods to wholesalers and retailers.  Some of the funds, according to reports, were transferred to banks in the United Arab Emirates.  At the time of Jamal’s arrest, much of the money could not be accounted for.

It has been reported that MS-13, the brutal gang that has infiltrated our country and terrorized cities and small towns, has used Arizona as a “gateway” into the United States.  In 2005, with a crackdown on the borders in New Mexico and California, portions of the Arizona border became known as “Terrorist Alley”.  While our government will have you believe that most people crossing the border illegally from Mexico are just poor Mexicans supporting their families by “doing jobs American won’t do”, Muslim prayer books, Arabic diaries and other paraphernalia has been found.  Additionally, MS-13 has been linked to assisting al-Qaeda in crossing into the U.S. The fact that Adnan Shukrijumah, on the FBI’s “Most Wanted” list, had reportedly met with MS-13 operatives in 2005, should not be ignored.

The 9/11 Commission Report mentions the existence of a highly classified FBI-CIA report titled, “Arizona: Long Range Nexus for Islamic Extremists”.  This report is mentioned along with 59 references to Arizona and connections to terrorism.  The “Arizona: Long Range Nexus for Islamic Extremists” report, however, is still classified and has not been released.

The now infamous “Flying Imams”, whose suspicious activities led to their being taken off a plane in Michigan?  They were flying to Phoenix.  In November, Sisayehiticha Dinssa, an unemployed U.S. Citizen, was arrested at the Detroit Metropolitan Airport after a dog caught the scent of narcotics on the cash he was carrying, according to an affidavit filed in court.  With him was information on cyanide, nuclear power plants and suitcase bombs.  Additionally, approximately $59,000 in undisclosed cash and newspaper clippings regarding the September 11 attacks were found.  Dinssa was flying from Nigeria via Amsterdam and Detroit to Phoenix.  We have to wonder how an unemployed man from Dallas gets to Nigeria and ends up on his way to Phoenix with large amounts on money he refuses to claim to US Customs.

We live in a time when three Middle Eastern men can drive a truck into the Port of Miami, give false information and, after the “official” story changes many times, are told it is not tied to terrorism.  When traces of C-4 are found at the port the next day, they are “unrelated” and the C-4 discovery is “not related to terrorism.” We live in a time when a group of Islamic imams can board a plane and act like terrorists, but it is immediately dismissed as “not related to terrorism”.  I am convinced that, in this absurd effort to “protect” the American people from reality, a man or woman, whether of American or Middle Eastern descent, could be caught taking the missing C-4, blow up a cruise ship and it will be reported as “not related to terrorism”.  Keep in mind not all terrorists are young Middle Easterners (let’s not forget Timothy McVeigh).  We are at war with radical Islam – a belief system that is not exclusive to the Middle East.  The connection to the events in the Phoenix area should not be dismissed as “isolated incidences”.

It’s time to wake up to the reality that the threat is real and the battleground is America.

Resources

Glenn Beck “The Real Story” – http://www.glennbeck.com

The Arizona Daily Star – http://www.azstarnet.com

Arizona Central – http://www.azcentral.com

“Operation Baby Milk” by Mark R. Taylor – http://www.greatmindsthinkright.com

Federal Bureau of Investigation – http://www.fbi.gov

Jihad Watch – http://www.jihadwatch.com

The 9/11 Commission Report

Mark R. Taylor is a former Bradley County, Arkansas, auxiliary deputy sheriff and volunteer firefighter.  Currently a long-haul truck driver, he served in Iraq from January 2004 to May 2005 as a civilian convoy commander.  He has appeared on The Captains America and other radio programs and his commentary has appeared in Landline Magazine, American Daily, Family Security Matters and Townhall.Com. The Taylors live in South Arkansas.  Mark’s website is http://www.uglypuppy.net/