In When Jihad came to America, Andrew McCarthy sketches a brief history of the blind Sheikh and his followers, especially El Sayyid Nosair, who killed Rabbi Meir Kahane, and the failure of authorities to tie them to the larger evil that they served. Still at the end McCarthy asks:
Would a successful interdiction of Kahane’s murderer, or swift and thorough investigation of Abdel Rahman’s circle in its aftermath, have prevented the monstrous deeds of subsequent years? That is of course unknowable. But an aggressive effort by United States authorities would have indicated a seriousness of purpose toward the threat of Islamic terrorism that itself might have changed the story of our times for the better. We still live, and will continue to live, with the consequences of our own blindness.
It is unknowable. It also recalls an article by Daniel Pipes and Steven Emerson who observed that information from the terror trials of those who blew up the American embassies in Africa told us that:
In the often long waits between terrorist attacks, Al-Qaeda’s member organizations maintained operational readiness by acting under the cover of front-company businesses and nonprofit, tax-deductible religious charities. These nongovernmental groups, many of them still operating, are based mainly in the U.S. and Britain, as well as in the Middle East. The Qatar Charitable Society, for example, has served as one of bin Laden’s de facto banks for raising and transferring funds.Osama bin Laden also set up a tightly organized system of cells in an array of American cities, including Brooklyn, N.Y.; Orlando, Fla.; Dallas; Santa Clara, Calif.; Columbia, Mo., and Herndon, Va.
This was written at the end of May, 2001. That date makes it almost prescient. Again its unknowable whether or not a more aggressive approach towards Al Qaeda operatives on American soil would have prevented 9/11. My suspicion was that the American based cells likely helped provide logistics for the 19 terrorists, but that has never been established.
So it’s interesting to read this article, Imam From Va. Mosque Now Thought to Have Aided Al-Qaeda in light of the knowledge of the degree to which Al Qaeda cells were operating on American soil.
The FBI also learned that Aulaqi was visited in early 2000 by a close associate of Omar Abdel Rahman, known as the blind sheik, who was convicted of conspiracy in connection with the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, and that he had ties to people raising money for the radical Palestinian movement Hamas, according to Congress and the 9/11 Commission report.But the bureau lacked enough evidence to bring a case, and closed its investigation. Around the same time, two future Sept. 11 hijackers — Khalid al-Mihdhar and Nawaf al-Hazmi, fresh from an al-Qaeda summit in Malaysia — turned up at Aulaqi’s San Diego mosque in early 2000.
Witnesses later told the FBI that Aulaqi had a close relationship with the hijackers in San Diego. “Several persons informed the FBI after September 11 that this imam had closed-door meetings in San Diego with al-Mihdhar, al-Hazmi and another individual,” the Joint House-Senate Inquiry reported. In press interviews at the time, Aulaqi denied having such contacts.
This doesn’t prove my suspicion, but it suggests that my suspicion was correct.
Taken together all three articles illustrate that the possibility of more terror on American soil was very real. One thing that the Bush administration deserves credit for is keeping the homeland safe. I don’t think after 9/11 it was obvious that we wouldn’t be struck again.
Crossposted on Soccer Dad.
