A self-proclaimed ”Muslim soldier” who bungled a plot to bomb Times Square promised Monday that others will succeed where he failed.
A remorseless Faisal Shahzad pleaded guilty to the frightening scheme to blow up the Crossroads of the World on a busy Saturday night, when it was packed with New Yorkers and tourists.
“It’s a war,” Shahzad, 30, said in a hateful screed to Manhattan Federal Judge Miriam Cedarbaum.
“I’m going to plead guilty a hundred times over because until the hour the U.S. pulls its forces from Iraq and Afghanistan and stops the drone strikes … we will be attacking the U.S.,” he said. “And I plead guilty to that.”
He never once said he was sorry, even when Cedarbaum pressed him on the human carnage – including the death of many children – he could have caused if his bomb-packed SUV exploded the night of May 1.
“Did you look around to see who they were?” Cedarbaum asked him of his potential victims.
“Well, the people select the government,” Shahzad said. “We consider them all the same. …”
“Including the children?” the judge demanded.
“Well, the drone hits in Afghanistan and Iraq, they don’t see children, they don’t see anybody,” Shahzad fired back.
“They kill women, children, they kill everybody. It’s a war, and in war, they kill people. They’re killing all Muslims.”
“One has to understand where I’m coming from,” Shahzad told the judge. “I consider myself … a Muslim soldier.”
“And it’s a war to kill people,” he coldly declared.
Wearing a white knit skullcap and a blue shirt and pants, the former Elizabeth Arden account analyst-turned-Jihad Joe calmly detailed how he learned to make bombs in the militant Waziristan stronghold in Pakistan last year.
He returned to the United States in early February, with $4,000 in Taliban cash. The terror group continued sending him money in two payments – $5,000 on Feb. 25 from a co-conspirator and $7,000 more on April 10.
He used the money to buy a Nissan Pathfinder off craigslist and parts to turn the vehicle into a crude rolling bomb. He parked the SUV near a packed theater in the Marriott Marquis hotel – and tried to ignite the bomb.
He says he still doesn’t know why the bomb didn’t explode – and waited up to five minutes for it to blow.
“I was waiting to hear a sound, but I didn’t hear a sound. So I walked to Grand Central and went home,” he said, adding that he carried a concealed 9-mm. rifle he had packed “for my self-defense” should he have to confront cops.
The gun was found in his car when he was caught two days later at Kennedy Airport trying to escape the U.S. aboard a Dubai-bound jetliner. MORE
Shahzad pleaded guilty yesterday to 10 federal crimes, including the attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction and conspiracy to commit an act of terrorism.
He faces life in prison when he is sentenced Oct. 5. He is likely to end up in a federal penitentiary in either Florence, Colo., or Terre Haute, Ind. The worst of the worst are sent to Colorado’s “administrative maximum” prison – known as Supermax.
Ramzi Yousef, the 1993 World Trade Center bomber, renounced Islam there. Other inmates are Unabomber Ted Kaczynski and Al Qaeda thug Zacarias Moussaoui.
Attorney General Eric Holder said justice was served by the guilty plea. “Faisal Shahzad plotted and launched an attack that could have led to serious loss of life, and today the American criminal justice system ensured that he will pay the price for his actions,” Holder said.
Mayor Bloomberg warned the city is still in the cross hairs.
“The NYPD, FBI and federal prosecutors deserve enormous credit for cracking – and closing – the Faisal Shahzad case so quickly,” the mayor said, “but we know that our city remains a top target for terrorists, and we will continue doing everything possible to keep our city safe.”
Updated: Thursday, 08 Oct 2009, 1:24 PM EDT
Published : Thursday, 08 Oct 2009, 12:44 PM EDT
From MyFox National Reports
(MYFOX NATIONAL) – NASA hopes to find water on the moon by launching a rocket directly at it. Scientists believe the blast will break up trapped lunar ice allowing them to detect water molecules.
The space agency said it will slam two spacecraft into the moon at 7:30 a.m. EDT Friday in an effort to find water on the moon. NASA is planning a live broadcast of the LCROSS impacts starting at 6:15 a.m. EDT on Oct. 9 on NASA TV. It will stream the event live at www.nasa.gov/ntv . Read the full story
Ephraim Sneh, Israel’s deputy defence minister until 2007, said a nuclear-armed Iran was an unacceptable threat to Israel. No Israeli government could put its faith in President Barack Obama’s efforts to bring Tehran to the negotiating table over its nuclear programme, he said. Read the full story
(Reuters) – A car bomb blew up outside the Athens stock exchange on Wednesday, slightly injuring one woman, in what Greek police suspect was the latest attack by leftist or anarchist groups.
Here is a timeline of some major attacks in Greece over the last two years:
January 2007 – Guerrillas fire a grenade at the U.S. embassy in Athens, hitting its facade.
April 2007 – Gunmen attack the Nea Ionia police station in Athens. In May, the Revolutionary Struggle group, which has emerged as Greece’s most serious domestic security threat since the dismantling of the November 17 guerrilla group in 2002, claim responsibility for this and the January attack.
October 24, 2008 – An attempted bomb attack outside Royal Dutch Shell’s headquarters in the south of Athens, fails. The Revolutionary Struggle group later claim responsibility.
January 5, 2009 – Weeks after the police shooting of a teenager in December 2008, gunmen linked to the Revolutionary Struggle seriously wound a 21-year-old policeman guarding the Culture Ministry in Athens. They said it was in revenge for the death of 15-year-old Alexandros Grigoropoulos.
February 3 – Left-wing guerrillas from the Rebel Sect group fire shots and throw a grenade at a police station in Athens. A fortnight later, gunmen fire at least a dozen shots outside a private TV station, without injuring anyone in either attack.
March 4 – Arsonists throw gas canisters and firebombs causing a fire which seriously damages the Piraeus Bank branch in the northern Athens suburb of New Psychico.
March 11 – Revolutionary Struggle claim it was behind two bomb attacks at Citibank branches in Athens. One attack was outside the headquarters on February 18 and the other, a bomb that went off outside a Citibank branch in Athens on March 10.
March 13 – A bomb explodes about 250 meters from Athens central police headquarters, causing serious damage to a state building and shops but no injuries. The leftist urban guerrilla group Popular Will later claims responsibility.
May 12 – A powerful bomb wrecks a Greek Eurobank branch in the outskirts of Athens. There are no injuries.
May 20 – A time bomb goes off outside the office of a Greek investment company, damaging three floors of the central Athens building. Popular Will says it planted the bomb.
May 19 – Two small time bombs explode at Greek police stations under construction, causing minor damage but no injuries. The leftist group Fire Conspiracy Cells later claims responsibility.
June 17 – A Greek anti-terrorism policeman is killed in Athens. He was shot several times at close range. On June 22, the far-left Rebel Sect urban guerrilla group claim the killing.
July 11 – A bomb explodes at the entrance to the home of former deputy minister Panagiotis Hinofotis in southern Athens, causing damage but no injuries. The Fire Conspiracy Cells group later claims responsibility.
Sept 2 – The Athens bourse is struck by a bomb causing extensive damage, but it opens for trading at the usual time.
– A home-made bomb explodes outside a government building in the northern city of Thessaloniki, causing minor damage.
**UPDATED**
**September 2, 2009 (9:25 AM Houston, Texas Time)**
Athens Bomb Blast Injures Woman Near Stock Exchange, AFP Says
Sept. 2 (Bloomberg) — A homemade bomb exploded in front of the Athens stock exchange today, injuring a woman, after police received a warning call and sealed off the neighborhood, Agence France-Presse reported, citing unidentified police officers.
The blast in a stolen car destroyed six other vehicles and damaged the front of the stock exchange, halting traffic for more than an hour, AFP said.
Another bomb exploded in a telephone box behind a ministry building in the northern port city of Salonika, causing slight damage, the news agency said.
There were no immediate claims of responsibility for the blasts, AFP said.
A car bomb exploded outside the Athens stock exchange in Greece on Wednesday, injuring one woman slightly and damaging the building and vehicles.
Another bomb in the northern city of Thessaloniki caused minor damage to a regional government office.
No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attacks, the BBC reports.
The Athens bomb exploded just before dawn following a warning call to a national newspaper.
Police were able to seal off the area outside the stock exchange, which is no longer in the centre of the city, but in the new purpose built block on the road to Corinth.
The bomb was hidden in a stolen van and blew out most of the windows in the building, damaged a nearby car dealership and set fire to some vehicles.
Athens – A strong explosion that shook Athens early Wednesday caused damage to the building that houses the Greek stock exchange.
One woman was injured by shattered glass, and a number of cars were destroyed, state television reported.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8233054.stm
Bomb hits Athens stock exchange
At about the same time, another explosion occurred in front of a ministry building in the northern port city of Thessaloniki, causing minor damage. (dpa)
An explosion outside the Athens stock exchange has caused minor damage to the building, Greek police said.
They said the blast – which also set eight cars on fire – was caused by an “explosive device”.
“The blast was strong but damage to the building was minor,” a police official told Reuters news agency.
Media reports said a newspaper had been warned about the blast. Violence has struck Greece several times since police shot a teenager last December.
Two homemade bombs have gone off in Athens and Salonika, causing damage to the Greek stock exchange and slightly wounding one woman, police said.
The bomb in Athens exploded in front of the stock exchange after a warning call to a newspaper gave police enough time to cordon off the neighbourhood. A woman was slightly injured by breaking glass.
The powerful blast, which was placed in a stolen car, destroyed six other vehicles and damaged the front of the stock exchange building on an avenue in the west of the Greek capital.
Traffic was diverted around the area for more than an hour.
In Salonika another anonymous call warned police and a television station before the bomb went off in a phone box behind a ministry building causing limited damage.
The bomb attacks, which were not immediately claimed, came three days before the inauguration of Salonika International Fair by Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis.
Violence has struck Greece a number of times since the police shooting of a teenager in December.
The shooting sparked Greece’s worst riots in decades and leftist and anarchist guerrilla groups have claimed responsibility for attacks.
Bomb Explodes Near Athens Stock Market, No One Hurt
ATHENS (Reuters) – A bomb in a car exploded outside the Athens stock exchange on Wednesday, causing no casualties but slightly damaging the building and setting eight vehicles ablaze, Greek police said.
They said a Greek newspaper had received a warning call before the explosion.
“It was an explosive device. The remains of it were found in a damaged car,” said a police official.
“The blast was strong but damage to the building was minor. Eight cars are on fire,” said the official.
Violence has struck Greece a number of times since the police shooting of a teenager in December.
The shooting sparked Greece’s worst riots in decades and leftist and anarchist guerrilla groups have claimed responsibility for attacks.
Recent Comments