September 20, 2016

"Two years before Ahmad Khan Rahami went on a bombing rampage in New York and New Jersey, his father told the police that the son was a terrorist..."

"... prompting a review by federal agents, according to two senior law enforcement officials."
Separately on Tuesday, another official said that when Mr. Rahami was captured during a shootout with the police, he was carrying a notebook that contained writings sympathetic to jihadist causes.

In one section of the book, which was pierced by a bullethole and covered in blood, Mr. Rahami wrote of “killing the kuffar,” or unbeliever, according to the official, who agreed to speak about the investigation only on the condition of anonymity....

76 comments:

MayBee said...

Oh, of course. Of course the FBI had been told about him

mccullough said...

I'd love to know the number of people who have reported to the FBI that they suspect their child or other family member of being a terrorist

traditionalguy said...

The Kuffar vote just went to Trump. At least the same ones.

Achilles said...

Nobody will get fired for letting him go.

If you are called a racist or a profiler you will be fired immediately.

Nobody in the government bureaucracy actually has to worry about terrorism. They all live in safe neighborhoods and work in safer government buildings protected by thousands of armed people.

Our bureaucracy has taken the inevitable step to aristocracy. Nobody is ever fired and they all went to Harvard or Yale. Senators/Congressman serve for life in safe seats and they employ the functionaries who write most of the laws now. Until now we have alternating Uniparty executives who keep the machine growing no matter which is in charge.

Our federal government is the definition of aristocracy.

mockturtle said...

He had apparently already been on a 'watch list'. They don't watch these guys very closely, do they?

JAORE said...

See something, say something.

Hear something, do nothing.

YoungHegelian said...

Oh, jeezo-peep! Another "known wolf" terrorist? What's the fucking point of reporting these people, unless you happen to see them setting a bomb or start shooting?

When your own dad reports you & says Junior doesn't have both oars in the water?

When your liberal friends ask "Why Trump?", point them to this.

Darrell said...

I beginning to think that the FBI is not the professional agency we see on TV. Imagine that.

Curious George said...

The FBI couldn't find intent in Hillary email scandal, so how is this surprising.

traditionalguy said...

The degree to which all Muslims despise infidels, Jews , and Christians is the dirty little secret that Obama pretends not to know. But Obama was raised as a Muslim and is the son of two Muslim men and a Marxist mother.

damikesc said...

Oh, of course. Of course the FBI had been told about him

Comey could find no prosecutor to take the case, probably.

YoungHegelian said...

Oh, and by the way, Mrs Rahami seems to have disappeared back to the old country a few days before Rahami set the bombs.

"Muslim Community Leaders Fear Backlash From Tomorrow's Bombing”.

Unknown said...

Now, now... Comey said that there is no "real" evidence of intent here, so calling this Jihad is wrong, and no reasonable prosecutor would try this man for terrorism.

It's not like he wiped the server with a cloth or something, is it?

--Vance

Darrell said...

Multiple people had reported the Orlando shooter to the FBI beforehand, as well. Oh, and in that case, they let his wife leave the country while they were establishing that she knew what was going to happen. The Cigarette Smoking Man has to shake things up over there.

Dude1394 said...

IRS Corrupt
FBI Corrupt
Dept. of Justice Corrupt
Democrat Nominee Corrupt
Homeland Security -- Clueless

Yea and we want to vote for MORE of this???

MaxedOutMama said...

But we are still trying to figure out his motive!!!

Apparently all the trips abroad, the Pakistani wife who was just shipped out of the country, and the screed blaming the whole thing on gays aren't clues to that.

It's really very similar to the Pulse murderer.

Nicest thing - he's able to escape if he can cover the 5.2 million bail money. WTF?

I see another round of voters being recruited for Trump.

Eric the Fruit Bat said...

What with the blood and the bullet hole and all, maybe the notebook is now some kind of holy relic.

Left Bank of the Charles said...

We need more profiling because following up on the people who have already been reported to law enforcement obviously ... wait, maybe as Hillary has proposed we need more "intelligence" people to track and follow the reported terror suspects around.

Virgil Hilts said...

We need to give the FBI a break. Imagine how many reports the FBI and DOJ must get each year from Muslim parents reporting that their children may be terrorists and potentially capable of mass murder - why it could be in the dozens, or more, and they have only limited investigative resources.
Do we really want DOJ to pull resources off of important things like potential transgender shower room rights violations and waste that manpower on weeding out potential home grown terrorists. I think not.

Achilles said...

Dude1394 said...

"IRS Corrupt
FBI Corrupt
Dept. of Justice Corrupt
Democrat Nominee Corrupt
Homeland Security -- Clueless

Yea and we want to vote for MORE of this???"

"We" want Homeland Security in charge of elections.

DKWalser said...

Yet, NYC's mayor still cannot say it was terrorism. Sure, we have his notebook containing "writings sympathetic to jihadist causes." And we know he frequently visited terrorist controlled parts of the world, but how can we know the intent of his heart? We need to be careful to jump to the easy conclusion that he was a terrorist.

Trump? The man's clearly a racist! He's always using racist code words and using racist dog whistles. It's obvious he's a racist and anyone who says he's not is a liar and an idiot!

Howard said...

"Nobody in the government bureaucracy actually has to worry about terrorism. They all live in safe neighborhoods and work in safer government buildings protected by thousands of armed people. "

Great point, except the government bureaucrats in the Pentagon, the government offices in the WTC, the government rescue people in the WTC, San Bernardino County health department. What was the target of Flight 93?????

Sebastian said...

Sure, the scorn in previous comments is justified.

But this case also shows the insuperable problem we face, regardless of FBI and O ineptitude. Consider the claim that only a small minority of Muslims are or are at risk of becoming terrorists. To identify and track and if necessary arrest such characters requires spreading a very wide net, which is difficult and costly. If .1% of a community of 3 million presents even a small risk, following up on every lead is nearly impossible. Connecting one node to a larger network and tracing all the network ties is very, very daunting. Comey said last year that the FBI had some 900 active terror investigations going. The FBI has more than 100 task forces with local law enforcement. It is not enough, and it can't be, just in view of the Muslims already here. But we can stop the problem from getting worse and contain the scale -- hence Trump's appeal.

Craig said...

DKWalser, Do not make up facts. The NYC mayor has called this terrorism. We are all aware that, at some point prior to the public identification of a suspect and prior to the arrest, de Blasio expressed caution. But that doesn't give you reason to claim he still cannot say the bombing was terrorism. He can, and he did.

If you're going to take self-righteous bullshit stands, you deserve to be called out for your bullshit.

Owen said...

The sarc is strong here, my friends. Hard to pick a winner.

But at the end of the day, Young Hegelian says it well: "When your liberal friends ask 'Why Trump?', point them to this."

If The Donald wins in November, it may well be thanks to this Rahami clown.

Mattman26 said...

Something delightful about a bullet piercing the book.

Woody Allen used to tell a joke about his great-great grandfather or some such in Russia, who always carried a tiny little bible in his vest pocket, including when he faced the firing squad. And it worked! Not a single bullet hit that bible!

damikesc said...

Great point, except the government bureaucrats in the Pentagon, the government offices in the WTC, the government rescue people in the WTC, San Bernardino County health department. What was the target of Flight 93?????

They weren't hit so they don't care.

The people pushing these asinine policies don't have to deal with the effects of these asinine policies.

walter said...

Owen said...If The Donald wins in November, it may well be thanks to this Rahami clown.
--
Hey..clowns are on the prowl too.

But good grief. With all the predictable denial with parents of these bad actors, it's not exactly "profiling" if a Father has gone through all that and still decides to report his son.

Sigivald said...

Person X gets reported as "is a terrorist" (or more likely in this case "has become an extremist", since he doesn't seem to have done any Terroring in the interim).

The FBI investigates them, and finds they're not actually doing anything illegal (since to the best of anyone's knowledge he hadn't, until this weekend, right?).

God only knows how long they watch him, while he keeps not doing anything illegal or conspiring to do anything, not yet.

Eventually they decide he's not going to, after ... well, it might have been nearly those entire two years, we don't know yet.

Then he does something, and we all assume they didn't even bother to look at him.

Because obviously if they had looked they'd have Stopped Him. Even if he wasn't doing anything illegal at the time, or at all between then and last weekend.

Citizen, remember? Unless and until he does something illegal (like conspiracy to commit a felony, for instance), they can't just round him up "because someone said he was a baddie".

There's a little problem with that, called the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments.

mockturtle said...

Virgil Hilts at 11:42, good one! ;-D

Hari said...

If only the father had said his son was an "international" terrorist.

Sebastian said...

@SIgivald: "Citizen, remember? Unless and until he does something illegal (like conspiracy to commit a felony, for instance), they can't just round him up "because someone said he was a baddie". There's a little problem with that, called the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments." This further illustrates the insuperable problem: applying normal American standards to resident Muslims, at small but significant risk of "radicalizing" and turning violent, will inevitably facilitate more terror attacks. Barring suspension of basic American rules, accepting Muslims means accepting terrorist violence.

Freeman Hunt said...

Impressive dad. We need more citizens like him. Imagine how hard it must have been to make that call.

You'd think someone would be watched more closely and for a longer time when his own parent reports him.

Hari said...

"What difference does it make at this point?"

JPS said...

Lately the FBI has me thinking of this exchange from "Grosse Pointe Blank":

Steve: "...You have to wait until the bad guy kills the good guy, then when you kill the bad guy, you're the good guy."

Kevin McCullers: "So - just to clarify - if we do his job we're the bad guys, and if we do our job we're the good guys."

Steve: "Yes."

Kevin McCullers: "That's... great."

mockturtle said...

It is a similar situation for parents who try to report mentally ill children who really are dangers to themselves or others but nothing is done and the kids end up killing someone or committing suicide. I read somewhere that a person 'would have to shoot his psychiatrist in the presence of two witnesses while being videotaped' to get committed.

The first responders seem to be the ones on the ball in these cases, not the FBI or the DHS. Those are probably two departments Trump could eliminate right off the bat.

tim in vermont said...

Another "known wolf." It's about privilege. Muslim men are taught that they should enjoy the kind of absolute privilege that in Europe used to be reserved to what was called the "nobility." Sounds pretty good to a man with limited skills and not too much money and influence. Muslim privilege is codified into actual law in the countries these guys come from.

His father sounds like a stand up guy. He still couldn't compete with the Jihadis for his own son, though.

walter said...

I'm curious what this "review" entailed. Was this guy interviewed? I'd say the Dad was damn brave. Has to be incredibly frustrating.

I'm Full of Soup said...

The FBI is as competent as the Police Chief on The Simpsons.

Etienne said...

The Marines prove every day, with a very little indoctrination, that you can get a perfectly sweet boy from the neighborhood, to become a killer who won't even stop at killing the President on a nice sunny day in Dallas.

When people wonder why someone becomes a violent person, all you have to do is look at who is paying them, and who is indoctrinating them.

When I started work for Northrop, they had no indoctrination worthy of the name. The people working there had no desire to win, or make money. They just hire on, do as their told, and are usually let go when the 3 year contract is over. Then they go bid on the next contract.

People in their purely sedentary jobs have no clue why these ragheads think the way they do.

The reason they kill, or cause violence, is because they are being heavily indoctrinated. Daily, or weekly. These people don't think for themselves, except to please the warlord.

No Marine thinks about anything, other than pleasing the warlord. Same with the ragheads. The more violence they commit, the more people they kill, and they can no longer serve a function in society.

You look at Marines or Soldiers with 8 tours to the land of the ragheads, and these people are fucked-up. They are on high levels of narcotics to keep them calm.

Thank God we give them license plates to warn us they are Veterans of the War on Terror(TM)(R).

So it goes...

MikeR said...

"If The Donald wins in November, it may well be thanks to this Rahami clown." Indeed. Because most Americans understand that Democrats are refusing to deal with reality on this issue. We all expected him to turn out to be a Muslim. Democrats refused to admit it to themselves.
Hard to vote for people who are out of touch with reality, who practice the "willing suspension of [dis]belief".

I'm Full of Soup said...

Consider this - Eric Holder sent the FBI out to investigate Bridgegate the day after that story became news.

How long did it take Loretta Lynch & Comey to send their Top Men out to investigate Hillary's email? Weeks ? Months?

hombre said...

The government officials charged with protecting us have other, more pressing, considerations.

They, like the Muslims, are very concerned about backlash after next week's bombings (shootings, stabbings, etc.).

Credit where it's due though. They do a prompt, efficient job after the bombings (shootings, stabbings, etc.).

jacksonjay said...

Achilles has a good point. No is obviously the answer.

On the other hand, is the federal bureaucracy so steeped in politically correct progressives that it won't matter much who is elected? Will The State Department support Trump or will they go rogue? I remember leaks from State when W was President that were intended to foil the GWOT! Has the IRS been purged of Lois types? Will the EPA still be manned by activists? The DOJ career lawyers will still be SJWs. And of course, the FBI agents will continue to go Ferguson on suspects named Ahmad! Where am I wrong?

Rick said...

according to the official, who agreed to speak about the investigation only on the condition of anonymity....

I'm stunned someone leaked this which immediately makes me suspicious of both the report and the leaker.

walter said...

You know..just replace the variable...
How Does the FBI Watch List Work? And Could It Have Prevented Orlando?

MAJMike said...

The Department of Justice is too busy investigating Tea Party organizations that it hasn't enough resources to devote to Moslem terror threats. Apparently, watching these scumbags is all they do. They're only proactive in the plots they themselves create.

Virgil Hilts said...

Sigivald said...The FBI investigates them, and finds they're not actually doing anything illegal...
Agreed, it is a tough problem. But let's say you investigate 500 people each year for this type of warning. I am the FBI. I tell them, look we get hundreds of these referrals and its hard for us to read people's minds and see who really could be a threat. Would you be willing to help us? If we asked you to - and of course you're free not to do it -- would you be willing to take a lie detector test to confirm you have no terrorist ties or intent?
What % would say yes? Who knows (I would volunteer to be fluttered if I was ever put in that situation). But the ones who do say yes (whether or not you actually flutter them) are probably the ones you do not have to worry about. That is just one idea for sharpening the focus.
Dirty little secret - when criminal defense counsel actually believe their client is innocent, that there is a case of mistaken identity, they will often offer up having their client take a lie detector test. In Arizona we finally released someone falsely arrested and accused of being the freeway shooter. The guy repeatedly asked for a lie detector test when he was arrested. He was never fluttered, but I think his demand to be tested had to cast doubt in the minds of the investigators.

tim in vermont said...

At some point, as these guys get more competent and better technology, it is going to be a question of real security. Dirty bombs in Manhattan would change a few blue nose minds, I am sure. At that point, anybody who really wants to stay in power in a democracy (See Merkel in Germany for the consequences of ignoring the people) is going to have to take some real measures.

tim in vermont said...

Put an EEG on their heads and show them a picture of the WTC burning, if their pleasure centers light up, I don't think you need a lie detector.

I'm Full of Soup said...

Tim- when that happens, we will have American refugees trying to re-locate to other parts of the USA. How crazy will that be?

jacksonjay said...

Where is the wife of the Orlando gay bar shooter? The FBI and DOJ are not this incompetent!

DKWalser said...

@Craig -- Sorry for not keeping up with the news. Glad the mayor finally got around to calling it terrorism. However, my point still stands: The mayor was "careful" to avoid mislabeling this act as terrorism. Yet, where is the care in avoiding labeling his political opponents as racists, homophobes, and sexists? The answer is he and liberals generally show no reluctance to call Trump (or anyone else with an R after their name) a hater. The standard of proof they require before calling someone a terrorist is much higher and the contrast is shocking.

gadfly said...

Dude1394 said...
IRS Corrupt
FBI Corrupt
Dept. of Justice Corrupt
Democrat Nominee Corrupt
Homeland Security -- Clueless

Yea and we want to vote for MORE of this???


All believers think Trump can fix all this corruption among all government employees in just eight years? This line of thinking begins with assumptions such as Trump will give up his own corrupt ways, septuagenerian Donald will completely change his concentration away from himself to attempt to fix anything and Trump is so smart that every one of his instant flip-a-coin decisions will work out best for righting the leftward cant and finally Trump will expunge all of his liberal solutions like taking over banks and telling corporations where and when they can do business and bringing down free trade in a heartbeat.

Yancey Ward said...

In defense of the FBI, they can't watch everyone on the list at even a minimal level. The problem, though, for the administration is that this simply undermines any claim about the vetting they claim to do, and it is actually a problem for Trump's extreme vetting since I don't think anyone can trust the competency of the process no matter who the president is. The advantage for Trump, however, is that his position might be changed to no admissions if failures occur. Not likely, but he has the position that is going to appeal to a pretty sizable majority.

tim in vermont said...

All believers think Trump can fix all this corruption among all government employees in just eight years?

Maybe not, but Hillary can cement in a one-party state in eight years. Backed by the intrusive powers of the IRS, the unlimited power of the Supreme Court, the unaccountable power of the FEC. You seem to think that we are not at some kind of crisis, when Hillary is caught clearly breaking the law, and nothing can be done about it. At least Trump would be held accountable.

320Busdriver said...

I was waiting for this type of twist on this story. It happens again and again.

Steyn has been hitting this topic hard for years now and every day he looks more prophetic. Interestingly I found his commentary on Oreilly last eve. Link here

I'm Full of Soup said...

The only odd think about this guy is he was not named Mohammed.. Mark Steyn has done a bit where he reads off the crime news and all the terrorists are actually named Mohammed.

mockturtle said...

When I read Mark Steyn's America Alone some years ago I thought he was definitely onto something. The problem is, most people still aren't getting it.

320Busdriver said...

"After America" likewise was spot on, if not hilarious at times.

But unfortunately I fear you are correct. We are, mostly asleep.

Achilles said...


"You look at Marines or Soldiers with 8 tours to the land of the ragheads, and these people are fucked-up. They are on high levels of narcotics to keep them calm.

Thank God we give them license plates to warn us they are Veterans of the War on Terror(TM)(R).

So it goes..."

Only 4 tours here. I don't disagree that I and we are messed up to an extent. But what we lose in humanity we gain in an acceptance of truth. We are much more capable of dealing with what is than the rest of you.

It is certainly a double edged sword.

mockturtle said...

Craig whined:If you're going to take self-righteous bullshit stands, you deserve to be called out for your bullshit.

As a matter of FACT, DeBlasio initially stated that they didn't yet know if it was terror related. Clearly a bomb is terror-related, regardless of who plants it.

Bad Lieutenant said...

gadfly said...blabbity blah blah

Show us on the doll where Donald Trump touched you, gadfly. There's nothing even to say to you anymore because you are beyond reason. Watch out some D operative doesn't make you into a right-wing patsy in an assassination attempt.

Bad Lieutenant said...

8 tours to the land of the ragheads, and these people are fucked-up.

Maybe so, coupe...or should I say coupé?...

So, what's YOUR excuse?

Achilles said...

Blogger jacksonjay said...
"Achilles has a good point. No is obviously the answer.

On the other hand, is the federal bureaucracy so steeped in politically correct progressives that it won't matter much who is elected? Will The State Department support Trump or will they go rogue? I remember leaks from State when W was President that were intended to foil the GWOT! Has the IRS been purged of Lois types? Will the EPA still be manned by activists? The DOJ career lawyers will still be SJWs. And of course, the FBI agents will continue to go Ferguson on suspects named Ahmad! Where am I wrong?"

This is the challenge of our time. Democracy and bureaucracy inevitably lead to aristocracy. The founders of our country understood and predicted that the people would have to bring down our government to ensure our freedom.

The reason I support Trump is there is a slim chance we can overcome this aristocracy without bloodshed. It is clear that the bureaucracy has enlisted in the struggle on the side of statism and this is entirely predictable. I believe the tipping point was when Obama turned the IRS loose on his political opponents.

At this point the lines are drawn.

JWH said...

Blogger Achilles said...


Nobody in the government bureaucracy actually has to worry about terrorism. They all live in safe neighborhoods and work in safer government buildings protected by thousands of armed people.

Must of forgot the Oklahoma City bombing.

Achilles said...

Blogger Yancey Ward said...
"In defense of the FBI, they can't watch everyone on the list at even a minimal level."

This is 100% bullshit. I know what some of the resources they have at their disposal are and I know they have more they can use.

They would have no trouble tracking idiots like this guy or the tsarnaev brothers especially if they were pointed out to them in the first place. They are making a conscious decision to fuck this up.

Achilles said...

Blogger JWH said...

"Must of forgot the Oklahoma City bombing."

You think the people who make these decisions and are part of the aristocracy give two shits about peons out in flyover country? They were just as useful if not more so to the political class as martyrs.

CWJ said...

JWH,

Oh, I don't think anyone has forgot OK City. Each year it fades a little bit further into history compared with more recent and imminent threats. Nonetheless, when Homeland Security did its last few roundups of terror possibilities, those wacky right wing militias had pride of place.

Beach Brutus said...

Achilles -- I don't think you or your brothers are messed up at all. You were simply taught to, as the poet said "release the dogs of war." That is, set aside the social mores that temper man's natural aggression and channel it in a socially productive direction. Without social and moral nurturing we would all be warrior killers - look no further than our inner cities to see that. Your "messed up" part is that the military has never succeeded in re-tooling killers for civilian life - to re-cage the dogs of war.

CWJ said...

Dad alerts FBI? That was so two years ago.

It's all protect the clan. Protect the family's honor. When the FBI might have been of help to avert a problem that might embarrass the family, he's all "Help me FBI Kenobi you're our only hope." Now that sonny boy has followed through, shot a cop, and been arrested, he's all "I had no idea."

Everyone and I mean everyone close to this is in dispicable CYA mode here. There's no reason to cut anyone of them any slack. Trump is one of the few around with clean hands, and yet HE'S the one catching flack.

Big Mike said...

The FBI ignored the warning since it came from the father and not from the mother. Because patriarchy, y'know.

Achilles said...

The truth you people don't seem to get is the bureaucracy is not incompetent, it is doing just what aristocracy always does. It is a parasitic growth upon the population and it acts to maintain and grow. Parasites move to control,grow, and avoid rejection.

The aristocracy does not give two shits about us. We are just the host.

Etienne said...

Bad Lieutenant said......or should I say coupé?...

Exactly, just like W.C. Fields...

So, what's YOUR excuse?

I'm Roman Catholic. We're all just pissed the moslems are free ranging again...

It's not an excuse though, it's just une raison d'être...

jacksonjay said...

Wait! Did I just hear that FBI didn't question jihadi because he wss incarcerated? What the Hell? What am I missing?

Yancey Ward said...

Achilles,

There are probably close to 100,000 names or more on these lists. There is literally no way to surveil this number of people. It isn't incompetence that really prevents this- is simply a question of manpower.