U.S. claim of terror cases in Iowa raises doubt

[Rose Siding]

DES MOINES (AP) - Federal prosecutors claim they built 35 terrorism-related cases in Iowa in the two years after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, but most of the defendants have questionable links to violent extremism.

Defendants who could be identified by the Des Moines Register were, in most cases, charged with fraud or theft and served just a few months in jail.

"If there have been terrorism-related arrests in Iowa, I haven't heard about them," said U.S. District Judge Robert Pratt. But Pratt himself presided over courtroom proceedings in at least six of the criminal cases that federal prosecutors had cataloged as terrorist in nature.

Included among the 35 cases were:

• Four American-born laborers who omitted mention of prior drug convictions or other crimes when they were assigned by a contractor to a runway construction project at the Des Moines airport or when they applied for manual-labor jobs there.

• Five Mexican citizens who stole cans of baby formula from store shelves throughout Iowa and sold them to a man of Arab descent for later resale.
more...............

http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_pg=1638&u_sid=1151795

[Bluzmann57]

1. Hmmm, I live in Iowa

and haven't heard one single word about any of that. Maybe someone is overreacting? Nah, the bushies wouldn't do that. And what does stealing cans of baby formula have to do with terrorism? The word(s) dumbass comes to mind here.

[Rose Siding]

5. Even Grassley's on them about "doctoring the numbers"

"When people read that they're doctoring the numbers, aren't they going to have less confidence in the Justice Department and the war on terror?" asked U.S. Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa. "You can't say that somebody's a terrorist when he isn't a terrorist."
-------------

The feds defense is that it's "semantics" *snicker*

snip>
"'Bona fide' terrorism is a matter of semantics," said Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard Murphy, who heads the criminal division of the U.S. Attorney's Office in Cedar Rapids. "I don't think you can draw conclusions based on what a person is convicted of."

[bobbieinok]

14. Grassley now and then is the man who won in IA by going

after incredible prices the DOD paid for tools.......isn't he also one of the few calling for Sybil Edmonds to be heard??

I lived in IA when G was elected....2 things I remember from that election...

...older farmers at a local cafe attacking opponent's (Culver?) hairdo........'if he's spending that much time on his hair he's not spending enuff time on his job'

...my ex, who is quite apolitical, commenting from another room during the debate (he wouldn't watch it, just heard parts while in a back room).....'the republican is going to win because he sounds like Will Rogers'

[louis-t]

2. 'Five Mexican citizens who stole cans of baby formula'

If that isn't terrorism, I don't know what is (nyuk). Weapons of Messy Diapers.

[Demeter]

3. Man, Those Cornfields are in a State of Terror!

I give up. The world has gone completely mad.

[Bluzmann57]

6. Yes its just an awful state of affairs here

As I look out onto beautiful 15th street, out my front window I see a couple of kids walking along. Maybe they are terrorists, they dress "funny". Maybe the guy who owns the gas station up the street is a terrorist, after all, he's from India. Gotta be careful, they're everywhere, starting at the very top, in Washington D.C.

[faithnotgreed]

15. righton dc! im keepin my eye on the verizon guy here on 16th - his

driver door is slightly ajar... he may be loading up baby formula as we speak

[Devils Advocate NZ]

9. No, not the WORLD, just the US....

The rest of us aren't arresting petty theives and caling them terrorists...

[progressivebydesign]

4. Sounds like all you have to be is middle eastern to be a threat...

Sheesh. The running thread through all those stories is the participation, in some way, of a middle eastern person. They cases were all made terror cases because they had people of middle eastern descent involved. Racial profiling?

[lovedems]

7. So, are these cases the Patriot Act in action?

This has to be the most stupid argument I have heard. Baby formula=terrorist activity? BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!

Keep your eyes peeled for all of those bottle feeding Arabs! They are most likely terrorists!

[Ripley]

8. Big Front Page News here too...

Big bold heading about a week ago... about how a provision in the Patriot Act was used for the first time ever in our state.

A Mexican was pulled over for some traffic violation and they found about $800,000 in cash in his car. So see, he's a terrorist. I wonder if he's in Cuba now.

[Devils Advocate NZ]

11. That case is yet more proof that the Patriot Act...

has almost NOTHING to do with terrorism!

Why would terrorists smuggle such large quantities of cash? They wouldn't, but drug dealers would. So here is a provision of the Act that the DEA and other law enfocement agencies have been lusting after for yeats.

Suddenly, it is now an "anti-terrorism" measure!

[geek tragedy]

10. What next--cow-tipping as terrorism?

Remember, though--it's not terrorism unless John Ashcroft holds a press conference.

[Jeff in Cincinnati]

12. It was only a matter of time...

before somebody played the "cow-tipping" card! Let me tell you something, bub, it's no picnic if you're the one who has the cow tipped on you!

[geek tragedy]

13. I lived in Minnesota for a long time,

I just couldn't resist. I suppose the next step will be finding a terrorist plot involving cheese in Wisconsin.

[Bandit]

17. If you weren't involved in those terrorist activities of cow tipping you

wouldn't have to worry about who the cow is tipped on. :shrug: I think they should change the color alarm to red just because of you cow tippers.

[IA_Seth]

16. Terror in Iowa

I am also from Iowa and I can't say that I recall ANY terrorism-related cases being talked about except for the one Arab guy arrested shortly after 9/11 for allegedly making false identification. I am not sure what ever happened to him, but I am sure he is still locked up somewhere 'pending trial'.

This is a joke.

[Blue Gardener]

19. I think that case was somewhat legitimate

I think he was making plenty of false ID's, but I doubt they were just for terrorists. I think he is just a run of the mill crook with an Arab-sounding name, which of course would automatically make him a terrorist.

[damnraddem]

18. Quick, call the Homeland Gestapo -- I want them to look for terrorists ...

under my bed.

And there's a suspicious-looking guy selling tin-foil hats ... oh wait, that's Tom Ridge!