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In a political climate in which anti-Semitism is often used as an excuse for bellicosity toward Iran and the larger Muslim world -- as well as an excuse for stalemating on peace between Israel and the Palestinians -- it's very important to realize that the terrorist suspects arrested in New York yesterday were one Haitian and three native-born Americans, none of whom were working in concert with any global network of extremists. Zack Roth does a nice job explaining:
There's no doubt the men expressed violent sentiments towards Jews and others, and a desire to commit large-scale terror acts. According to the complaint, at one point during the planning, Cromitie said: "I hate those motherfuckers, those fucking Jewish bastards ... I would like to get [destroy] a synagogue." In that same conversation, he also said, referring to the Twin Towers: "The best target was hit already." ...But it's not clear whether these men would have carried out any terror plot without encouragement and material support from an FBI informant. The New York Times reports that "a federal law enforcement official described the plot as "aspirational" -- meaning that the suspects wanted to do something but had no weapons or explosives."Indeed, the complaint paints a picture of a plot in which the FBI informant played a central role from the start. The informant met Cromitie, the apparent ringleader of the plot, last June at a Newburgh mosque. Cromitie told the informant that his parents had lived in Afghanistan, that he was upset about the US killing Muslims in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and that he would like to do "something to America." Soon after, the informant falsely told Cromitie that he (the informant) was a member of the Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed. Cromitie said he too would like to join, in order to "do Jihad."From there, the plot began to slowly take shape, with the informant playing a central role throughout. The informant helped to procure fake homemade bombs, and accompanied the men in obtaining a surface-to-air guided missile system and three IEDs. The informant also accompanied the men in buying handguns for use in the plot.--Dana Goldstein
