This just in from Naharnet: apparently the FBI has caught yet another pair of dangerous criminal masterminds who were allegedly trying to replace Iran as Hezbollah’s main military benefactor.
Patrick Nayyar, 45, an Indian citizen living illegally in the United States, and Conrad Mulholland, 43, were charged by federal prosecutors with agreeing to supply an FBI undercover agent with guns, ammunition, vehicles, bulletproof vests and night vision goggles…
They had already supplied a pistol, a pick-up truck and a box of ammunition to the FBI agent, whom they thought to be a Hizbullah member, the prosecutors said.
Are you guys as relieved as I am? I mean, if Hezbollah had gotten their hands on that PISTOL, who knows what they could have done with it?
Qifa Nabki 
What a waste of police resources…A pitol at a time…Rome was not built in a day!!
Posted by danny | October 27, 2009, 3:31 pmI wish you’d photoshopped Abu Hadi a gat!
Posted by sean | October 27, 2009, 3:57 pmYou know, Qifa, not long ago I found myself involved in a US law enforcement covert surveillance operation. I’d submitted material to my nearest major US newspaper for possible publishing (mostly 2006 Lebanon war and Iran military subjects). I can only guess the newspaper found the perspectives so overly objective, they actually called the police on me! What followed was a long period of CS ops. They even inserted two agents into my college classrooms. But before they had a chance to attempt any sort of entrapment, they were made aware that their efforts had been fatally compromised, and that I’d activated my legal representation. Still, I’m sure I remain on the government watchlist, which is a shame. This is the same kind of thing the government of Iran is criticized for, in its treatment of the Greens. (See the hypocrisy?)
Of course, had the CS op proceeded to the actual entrapment phase, I’d have laughed in their faces and swiftly walked away.
Posted by Pirouz | October 27, 2009, 4:58 pmPirouz
Yikes!
Are they here now?
Posted by Qifa Nabki | October 27, 2009, 5:25 pmIn all fairness though , no one has accused HA of any wrong doings. The police officer used the name HA as a cover in order to entice the accused to provide the arms in question. This might qualify as entrapment but we do not know the details do we?
Posted by ghassan karam | October 27, 2009, 7:42 pmQifa, needless to say, it was a prolonged and very unpleasant experience.
That it happened to me, under such circumstances, really makes me wonder how many other Americans of Middle Eastern descent have unwittingly had this happen to them. In my particular case, with my background, I pretty much knew what to look out for. What about other outspoken people, especially those denouncing Zionism? Like, say, Angry Arab or others like him. The current terrorist watchlist contains something like 1.3 million names! Can you imagine what sort of subjective (often times purely ethnic) criteria it takes to be put on such a secret government list?
Your question: are they here now (still active)? I don’t know, but they don’t seem to be operating anywhere near the proximity they once were.
I must say, though, that one gets used to this treatment. It has definitely not silenced my freedom of expression; something I take very seriously, as a native son American of both Iranian and American descent.
If this makes you queasy, Qifa, I apologize. But keep in mind, this kind of thing is happening to your Middle Eastern cousins every day, right here in the USA.
Posted by Pirouz | October 27, 2009, 9:31 pmPirouz,
I appreciate what you’re saying. Must have been trying for you.
Posted by Qifa Nabki | October 27, 2009, 10:09 pm“This is the same kind of thing the government of Iran is criticized for, in its treatment of the Greens. (See the hypocrisy?)”
PLEASE do not compare or equate what happens in the USA to what happens in Iran Syria or any other nice Middle Eastern regime to do so is simply ridiculous
Enjoy your freedom Doctor!
Posted by V | October 27, 2009, 10:48 pmV:
The big difference is the US judicial system. I have far more confidence in it than anything I’d expect from Iran’s legal counterpart. On paper, Iran has a reasonably good constitution. But in practice, with its weak judiciary, there are definite problems.
In my particular case, US law enforcement actually engaged in certain extralegal measures, but they were always mindful of any negative legal repercussions it would generate in a potential judicial process.
The US Bill of Rights and judicial system are something to be extremely proud of. Unfortunately, the Patriot Act and the factitious legal justification for Guantanimo are not.
Posted by Pirouz | October 28, 2009, 2:33 amAbout entrapment and the war on terror, you guys should listen to this.
Posted by sean | October 28, 2009, 4:26 amA case where the system didn’t perform all that well was the one against Pakistani-American Hadmid Hyatt in Lodi, California. Even a retired FBI officer has become an outspoken critic of the case. That poor young man is a victim of an elaborate (and very expensive) entrapment campaign. To make matters worse, he and his father were not aware of their rights, and were basically led like donkeys to their own unwarranted demise.
That being said, no system is perfect. But I still maintain a reasonably good level of confidence in the US judiciary branch of government.
Just keep in mind, though, that a lot of money is spent on domestic CT ops, and a minimum number of results are deemed necessary to justify the relatively huge expense outlay, no matter what.
Posted by Pirouz | October 28, 2009, 1:57 pmI think we all agree there are many flaws in the system however this is expected after a major terrorist attack like 9 11 or the war in Iraq and Afghanistan, let’s see how would any other country perform under a similar situation and compare.
Given the freedom Arab Americans or Middle Eastern Americans still enjoy in this great nation one can assume US law enforcement and other government agencies have done an ok job so far
Posted by V | October 28, 2009, 6:56 pm@V:
I sort of have to second that, for I wasn’t arrested or interrogated. Of course, had the CS op successfully proceeded over to the entrapment phase, and had I been successfully duped into somehow incriminating myself into a set up crime entirely not of my own making, I wouldn’t be posting today on Qifa Nabki!
But regardless, my rights are seriously impinged upon when it comes to using the services of commercial airlines. Grossly unfair. Un-American.
Hey, did you hear about the “Sunni-fundamentalist militants” today in Detroit? Ex-prison African-American converts, from what I’ve read. Now there you may actually have some bad dudes.
Posted by Pirouz | October 28, 2009, 8:19 pmSunni Fundamentalists or not Detroit is plenty bad
Posted by V | October 28, 2009, 10:03 pmWell Qifa, Hezy could have given it to a Shia Lebanese farmer, who would then fire it across the Blue Line and hit an Israeli wolf, starting the next epic between Israel and Lebanon.
Posted by Abu Guerrilla | October 29, 2009, 1:49 amIh there 🙂
I’m reading here for a while now by Google reader … hum … I always liked the ton here and the way you show things.
But i’m a bit sad about that post : Yes, no big deal about a gun and a few bullets.
Just let me ask you something, how many bullet it take to take away from you the person you love the most ?
You see what I mean ? 🙂
With huge respect,
Ekios.
Ps : i’m not a native english speaker, so forgive me aaaall the mistakes 😉
Posted by Ekios | October 29, 2009, 11:10 amEkios,
My point was simply that these guys seemed a bit clueless if they thought that Hizbullah really needed a pistol and a pickup truck! 🙂
Posted by Qifa Nabki | October 29, 2009, 11:13 am*sigh* … yessss I know … but still … It’s better than nothing.
If you wants nothing, just take a look to Lebanon’s reality 😦
Posted by Ekios | October 29, 2009, 11:29 am