February 22, 2006

U.S. Muslim Community Silent About Plot by Islamic U.S. Citizens to Kill Troops in Iraq

"Ohio Men Accused of Plot to Kill Troops in Iraq:"

The Justice Department accused three Ohio men yesterday of plotting to kill U.S. and coalition troops in Iraq, allegedly by seeking to set up a Middle Eastern terrorism camp where insurgents would be trained and equipped.

...The men are accused of spending more than a year downloading militant videos, taking weapons training, and trying to acquire or build explosives. They could face life in prison if convicted of the most serious charge, conspiracy to kill Americans abroad. They are also charged with providing material support to terrorists.

The defendants are Mohammad Zaki Amawi, 26, a citizen of the United States and Jordan; Marwan Othman el-Hindi, 42, of Toledo, a U.S. citizen; and Wassim I. Mazloum, 24, of Toledo, a permanent legal resident who co-owns a Toledo auto dealership with his brother. In addition to the terrorism counts, Amawi is also charged with twice making verbal threats against Bush, court documents show.

...The indictment and prosecutors allege that the three men discussed how to build and use improvised explosive devices, or IEDs, which have emerged as the biggest threat to U.S. troops battling the insurgency in Iraq. Amawi explicitly stated that he hoped to target the U.S. military with IEDs, according to the government. 

A question I've been asking on this site is, What's going on inside the mosques in the U.S.?  If the mosques were centers of a sentiment to help the U.S. and all its citizens succeed together, one would expect to see  pronouncements from many leaders of these mosques, saying something like, "We hope these men are innocent, but in any case we deplore the actions they are accused of. Such actions are contrary to our teachings." But instead those leaders are silent on this subject. This appears to be evidence that the leaders of those mosques support the actions of which these men are accused.