What Tarek Mehanna Isn't

American citizen Tarek Mehanna's lawyers managed to convince many in the media that his prosecution as a terrorist was all about the First Amendment and U.S. attitudes toward Muslims.

A Boston jury did not agree, on Tuesday convicting Mehanna of material support to Al Qaeda and lying to federal investigators.

One can forgive the defense team for thinking that First Amendment martyrdom was the smart approach. Faced with an overwhelming amount of evidence as to Mehanna's words and actions, they decided the only way to do their job was to undermine the fundamental nature of the charges. The strategy failed, but that doesn't mean they had any better options.

The phrase "budding Islamic scholar" has now become ubiquitous in media descriptions of Mehanna, a phrase the defense used in an effort to normalize Mehanna's indisputably radical beliefs and actions as a normal, even respected part of Islam.

If Glenn Beck put forth the idea that Islamic scholarship included praising the 9/11 hijackers, gloating and laughing at Ground Zero, and celebrating the immolation of American soldiers as "Texas barbecue," he would rightfully be lambasted by sensible people.

But when Mehanna himself advances that argument, through his defense team, people who say they have the best interests of American Muslims at heart should take a deep breath and think about whether they want to co-sign that assertion.

It's one thing to advocate for the First Amendment and the protection of objectionable speech. It's quite another thing to defend an extremist by trying to normalize his behavior within a community that already has enough perception problems.

People of good conscience might differ on whether Mehanna should be considered a criminal, although I personally agree with the jury that his actions in total surpassed the scope of the First Amendment.

But the evidence submitted in court clearly shows that Mehanna was, by almost any interpretation, a hateful person who gloried violence. Defend his legal position if you must, but don't call him a "budding Islamic scholar" and don't allow him to wrap himself in the mantle of "ordinary American Muslim." He is not.

For much more about the Tarek Mehanna case, check out J.M. Berger's new book, Jihad Joe: Americans Who Go to War in the Name of Islam, on sale everywhere.

Labels: American-Jihadists, American-Terrorists, Jihad-Joe, Tarek-Mehanna

Views expressed on INTELWIRE are those of the author alone.

Posted by J.M. Berger | Permalink

 

The Value Of Exposing Collaborators

Daniel Maldanado, an American convert to Islam who went to fight alongside Islamists in Somalia, was once a big hit on the jihadi Internet forums. Arrested in 2007, he wrote craven, apologetic letters to the judge considering his sentence even as he wrote grandiose accounts of his jihad experiences to correspondents on the forums. One such letter described his grand adventures on the lam in the African wild with a group of fellow fighters:

For two weeks we did not eat at all except for one time at the very beginning of our wanderings. One day we came out to a Savannah area; it looked like something out of Lion King! We were careful, as helicopters were still in the sky and we were obviously being hunted by them. We would stay along the edge of the jungle area until we felt it was safe to actually go out into the long-grassed Savanna.

Suddenly one of the brothers caught a baby gazelle that seemed to just stand there, waiting for us. A brother took out a simple razor from his pocket. He pointed the animal towards the Qibla (direction towards Makkah) and we slaughtered it according to the noble shareeah (Islamic Law).

This missive became rather popular online, and Maldonado was seen as someone who had been living the dream. Less publicized were his court letters which laid out more bluntly the unpleasantness of his experience, including feeling awkward about being the only white guy in his group and general ineptitude.

Read Maldonado's letters to the court

The court letters didn't get much attention from jihobbyists at the time, but Maldonado is now getting plenty of negative attention from his former friends, thanks to his testimony this week implicating his former friend and fellow Boston-area jihadist Tarek Mehanna.

The former hero is now decidedly the goat. A thread on the hardcore Islamic Awakening forum concerning Maldonad's testimony sprouted 62 posts in just about one day (it was spun off by moderators from a thread on the Mehanna trial). A sampling of the responses:

"Make sure when you see [your children after an early release for cooperating] you sit them in your lap and tell them that this time together is thanks to lies and stabbing a Muslim in the back."

"I read an interview of Maldonado's earlier and in it he mentions his wife [who died of malaria in Africa] extensively. Perhaps one of the reasons Allah took his wife so early was so she could be spared of what her husband has become."

"Didn't Daniel M. know when setting off to a war zone, that he might be imprisoned and not see his children or wife again?! If you can't take the heat, get out of the kitchen, he should have gone to work in a kindergarten instead of somalia. I think the children excuse is just that, an excuse, and the guy just wants to get out even by the cost of our brother Tarek's freedom."

"This is much more evil for Muslims than benefit. Think about it, this gives more of a chance for outspoken Muslims to go to jail. This also destroys the fabric of society in the Muslim community because everyone is back stabbing each other so raising your children in this type of environment wont be beneficial. As well this will raise children to think it is okay to back stab Muslims."

"Daniel wasn't even tortured, conditions even in supermax are bearable (but may Allah protect all Muslims from such trials), so I find his excuses laughable, if it were not so sad."

"we may understand why they betrayed, but that is no excuse for betrayal. i cant see one example where we honor a betrayer because "he chose the lesser of two evils" with this type of thinking, surely the mujahideen and any soldier outfit would fall apart at the seams."

There were also those who defended Maldonado, somewhat tepidly, and many who suggested they should not be the judges. Many sharp words, accusations and condemnations were exchanged. In short, it was exactly the kind of thing that ordinary people and counterterrorism officials would like to see on these forums -- fitna, dissent and division.

U.S. officials should make cooperators and collaborators more visible. Since 9/11, many a convicted jihadist has fulfilled the conditions of a plea in total secrecy, never emerging to testify in court, sometimes even being released from prison early without anyone ever knowing what sort of cooperation they provided.

Disclosing this cooperation has multiple positive effects. First, it creates the divisions seen above. Secondly, it discredits jihadist narratives. Maldonado's letter to the forums about his adventures in Somalia will not be so warmly received in the future. It reinforces an existing meme among would-be jihadists that you can't trust anyone, no matter how credible they look. And finally, it hedges against convicted terrorists who play a double game of cooperating and then recanting, whether in letters from prison or after their release. If Maldonado succeeds in getting an early release thanks to his testimony against Mehanna, he won't receive a warm reception among his radical former friends.

For more about American jihadists, check out J.M. Berger's new book, Jihad Joe: Americans Who Go to War in the Name of Islam, on sale everywhere.

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Labels: American-Jihadists, American-Terrorists, CVE, Daniel-Maldonado, Jihadist-Forums, Tarek-Mehanna

Views expressed on INTELWIRE are those of the author alone.

Posted by J.M. Berger | Permalink

 

Tarek Mehanna Superseding Indictment and Evidentiary Proffer

Two new documents filed today in Boston in the case of alleged jihadist Tarek Mehanna. According to an evidentiary proffer:

MEHANNA also sought to provide material support to al Qa'ida and other terrorist organizations by translating and distributing videos and text that were intended to inspire others to participate in jihad.

Among those translations, the proffer alleges, was a document called "39 Ways to Serve and Participate in Jihad." An online correspondent of Mehanna said the work was establishing him as "Al Qaeda's English wing" and "Al Qaeda in Iraq's media wing."

Mehanna later asked that a third party post the work so that his name wouldn't be associated with it, according to the proffer.

Mehanna also translated videos related to terrorist acts by Abu Musab Al Zarqawi, the emir of Al Qaeda in Iraq, the proffer alleges.

The proffer relates the contents of an instant messaging exchange between Mehanna and another individual, which was recovered from Mehanna's computer. The exchange features the two men joking about the videotaped beheading of Nicholas Berg by Zarqawi.

MEHANNA: we can have a movie night

DS: What movie? ... "State of the Ummah"?

MEHANNA: ni ... no ... Heads Up

DS: lol ... Heads Up?

MEHANNA: hehe joke

DS: Does it star Mr. Z?

MEHANNA: yes

DS: it shoud be Heads Off

MEHANNA: hehe yeah

Mehanna made jokes about the September 11 attacks, the proffer alleges, and went with two friends to visit Ground Zero. One of those pictures has been published in the Boston Globe.

Tarek Mehanna Superseding Indictment

Tarek Mehanna Evidentiary Proffer

Labels: American-Jihadists, Boston, Tarek-Mehanna

Views expressed on INTELWIRE are those of the author alone.

Posted by J.M. Berger | Permalink

 

Tarek Mehanna Complaint and Search Warrant

10/21/2009: Criminal complaint re: Tarek Mehanna

10/20/2009: Affidavit in support of search warrant re: Tarek Mehanna

12/2008: Archived copy of Tarek Mehanna's blog writings

Labels: American-Jihadists, Boston, Tarek-Mehanna

Views expressed on INTELWIRE are those of the author alone.

Posted by J.M. Berger | Permalink