The FBI “terror case” that took place here in Minneapolis involving local young men who were recruited to fight in a “holy war” in Somalia in 2008 is finally over. It was said that it was one of the biggest cases ever by the federal government.
This makes sense. It can be very time consuming making up evidence. The process used to show evidence of “terror” in this case was the same process used to show evidence that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. When you are the most powerful entity on the planet, you get to send your agents to Somalia to dig up bodies looking for phantom evidence, while their drones buzz above them committing the real crimes.
When the Star Tribune and the Pioneer Press go along with this case of “terrorism” without questioning it, they are nothing more than state-run newspapers. The FBI has nothing. How could such a minor thing as these young men going to fight in a “civil war” in Somalia be such a big deal, be such a crime, especially when they are within the rights of international law?
You have a group of young men recruited to fight conventional “warfare” in Somalia. If I’m not mistaken, the U.S. armed forces does this on the U of M campus. The game played by the most powerful government on the planet goes like this: Give an umbrella definition to anyone coming remotely close to Al-Shabaab, a U.S.-defined terrorist organization,” as being guilty of terrorism, even
if they have no intention of doing terrorism but are going to fight in a manner that is within international law. There is no more to this case that can be incriminating other than a “simple-minded janitor at a Minneapolis mosque,” named Mohamud Said Omar, who gave a few hundred dollars to local men to fight in a “war” in Somalia, and this is not a crime. There is nothing more to this case; this big “terror case” is founded on nothingness. The U.S. defined what was going on in Somalia in 2008 as a “civil war.” International humanitarian law, also known as the “rules of war,” states “all parties in a conflict are granted the right to use appropriate force to achieve their aims.” Understand this, FBI: “All parties,” includes the bad guys.
When these young men went to Somalia and learned to shoot guns at a “terrorist camp,” so they could fight within the “civil war,” they were within the “rules” and using “appropriate force to achieve their aims.”Once a conflict is defined as a “war,” humanitarian law applies.
These young men were acting within international law. The U.S. government got to tap into and benefit from the “rules of war” when attacking Iraq, even without a reason; everyone has the same access to the “rules of war” as the United States.
Frank Erickson lives in Minneapolis.
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