Thursday, June 23, 2011

Ethiopian - American Jihadist Yonathan Melaku update


This is a followup to SH's post last night on the charges against Marine Corps reservist Ethiopian - American Jihadist Yonathan Melaku.
I just wanted to chime in because as I was working out this morning I kept flipping back and forth between Fox News, CNN, and MSNBC trying to catch anything on Melaku's string of shootings in and around military installations, museums, and monuments. Not a single one of them -- not even Fox -- mentioned the "T" word.
There may be a story out there from the MSM on Melaku as a terrorist, but I haven't seen it yet. It should be the lead story.
Apparently calling a guy who was nabbed with al Qaeda material and who had shot at several military properties and was arrested while casing out Arlington National Cemetery -- with some of the component parts of a bomb in his backpack -- a "terrorist" is a super spooky no-no these days.
We wouldn't want to be accused of Islamophobia or add fuel to the flame of Rep. King's radicalization hearings. That sends the wrong message.
After reading the affidavit it is my opinion that Melaku was almost definitely in the final stages of planning a terrorist attack. Luck -- or God -- once again was on our side and he was caught before his desire to hurt the US military on our own soil went from planning to action.
The fact that he is known to have taken shots at military recruiting stations, the Marine Corps Museum, and the Pentagon on at least five separate occasions and that he was caught 8 months after the initial known shooting spree with bomb materials on his person shows classic signs of escalation.
And those are only the known acts of violence directed towards the military. What else had Melaku been up to?
The original shooting spree was last October, but he was not picked up until this month. This shows that he was committed to the cause over a period of time. And that cause was jihad.
And the escalation is from shooting with a handgun to preparing a bomb. Components of a bomb were found in his apartment and bomb making instructions were found in his laptop. (On a sidenote, I'd be very interested to see what websites he's been visiting.)
Let's look at what else was found in his backpack. From the affidavit:
a spiral notebook with numerous Arabic statements referencing the Taliban, al Qaeda, Osama bin Laden, "The Path to Jihad" including "defeat the coalition and allies and America", as well as a list of several other individuals associated with foreign terrorist organizations.
And on the video Melaku made of himself shooting at the Marine Corps Museum he can be heard shouting:
"Allahu akbar" repeatedly
The inference here is clear: Melaku was motivated by jihad and was intent on hurting the US military to help terrorist organizations, including al Qaeda.
So why isn't this leading the news and why isn't any one (that I know of) calling this terrorism?
Related:
Read More "Can we call it terrorism yet?"           
H/T Rusty Shackleford, Ph.D. FROM JAWA

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