The Miami Seven

Last Thurday, FBI agents stormed the poverty stricken Liberty City section of Miami.
According to the agency, they were looking for al-Qaida extremist who were plotting to blow up the Sears Tower in Chicago, as well as various FBI buildings. The agents, acting with laser like precision, used blow torches to blow off the warehouse doors where the alleged plot was bing hatched. And when it was all said and done, seven men, (five American citizens, and two Haitian nationals -one of them here illegally) were arrested. The arrest was done with great fanfare, and the usual media bltiz that follows these types of events. So of course, there was the usual wall to wall coverage on all the 24 hour cable news shows, and front page stories on the cover of all the major newspapers. The Attorney General held a press conference to praise the work of law enorcement, and FBI Director, Robert Mueller, appeared on Larry King to further explain to the nation that; " it's an ongoing operation..." There were statements from both the Governors of Florida and Illinois, and the U.S. Attorney for Miami, R. Alexander Acosta, basically echoed everything that Attorney General Gonzales said, by reiterating how important of a blow this was to the war on terror. Officials went on to say that; "this was a part of a radical black Muslim group planning terrorist acts".... Yep he said "radical black Muslim group". Oh ohh, you do know what this means don't you black folks; it means welcome to the war on terror, you have now officially become a part of the suspect class.

But I will talk more about that later. For now, let's look at another statement made by the FBI: "There was no credible threat that has gone beyond criminal discussion...". And yet another statement from law enforcement, this one from U.S. Attorney Acosta. "The city of Miami is under no imminent threat" Ok, so you mean all those FBI agents that flooded Liberty City with the precision of our army in Iraq was just there for show? As I am starting to watch and listen to this story, a picture is starting to emerge, and I gotta tell you, something just doesn't smell right out here in the fields.

Here is why I can't get this funny stench out of my nortrils. These men weren't Muslims nor were they Islamist terrorist. Who were they? Well, according to most accounts, they were a bunch of poor, misguided, unemployed, and dare I say, bumbling group of men. Who it would appear, had come together to form some sort of a religious group. They called themselves "Seas of David" and they practiced physical fitness and other rituals as part of their religion. In fact, according to one of their members, a man known as Brother Corey,- who was not arrested- they were peaceful, and only wished to spread their religious message into the sorrounding community. By all accounts, they were harmless, and they stuck out in the Liberty City neighborhood like sore thumbs. -Hardly the actions or modus operandi of hardened terrorist- No one in the neighborhood thought they posed a threat, and in fact, many people in the neighborhood thought they were somewhat of a joke. By all accounts the Boy Scouts could have taken them down. They had no weapons, no actual explosives, and no funds to carry out their alleged plot. Unlike the guys from upstate New York who actually went to Pakistan for training, these guys, by all accounts, never even left the country. So why all the hoopla over the capture of this gang that couldn't shoot straight; or shoot at all for that matter?

Well, if you listen to many cynics, it's all a part of frat boy's strategy to bring the nation's focus back to the war on terror, and to show the country that he and his team are on top of things. -After all, there is a mid term election just around the corner- I don't happen to be quite so cynical. Although, like my man Arsenio used to say;"It does make you wanna go mmm".
But I keep going back to that statement, that there was no iminent threat that went beyond criminal discussion. I mean really, what does that mean? I will give you an analogy: Every one that reads this blog knows that I am always trying to find ways to hook up with Lark Voorhies. And I gotta tell you, in my mind ....well, let's just say Lark and I have spent some pretty interesting times together. So have I actually made out with Lark Voorhies, do I even have a shot? As much as it pains me to say so, the answer is no! -Please follow my Lark Voorheies analogy here. You see, I have about as much of a shot of getting with Lark as these idiots had of blowing up the Sears Tower. And because I keep thinking it, doesn't make it more likely to happen. Another thing, just because I have these thoughts about Lark Voorhies, it doesn't mean I that should I be arrested for stalking her? They are, after all just thoughts. Do you see the analogy? -If you don't I will understand, I just had to get Lark in this post somehow- Even if you don't agree with me on the seriousness of the charges, you have to admit that as far as the war on terror goes, this was a lot of hoopla for a pretty lame catch.

Now I am not saying these guys should not have been arrested for something; I don't know, maybe conspiracy. After all, you just can't have discussions about killing people with total strangers, and go around taking pictures of potential targets. So I am not giving this gang of idiots a total pass. But you have to wonder just how much this informer helped to entrap these men on terrorism charges with the promise of money, clothes, food etc.. I gotta tell you, there are some brothers here in Philly who would join the klan if you gave them the right amount of money, so I'm not impressed with this FBI sting. And I have some serious questions about how the entire thing went down. Sorry, but an informant or mole goes into a depressed neighborhood like this, sees a vulnarable group, and starts promising them the world; more than likely you will get something. The leader of this group,- Narseal Batiste- seemed more like a hustler than a terrorist to me, and he thought he found his perfect mark in this informer. This is not unusual in the hood, there are hundreds of guys like Mr. Batiste trying to find ways to hustle groups every day. -See my previous post about some pastors in the hood- Unfortunately for him, he has really stepped in it this time, and has bitten off way more than he can chew.

I want to make this clear, I understand we are still at war with Islamic terrorist, and I know that they would just as soon slit the throat of this field-negro as they would any other American. And I also know, that home grown terrorist can be dangerous.- See what happened in London last summer- But situations like this past week make me uneasy. I start wondering if the war on terror is being politicized, and if we really needed all the ballyhoo over the capture of a bunch of not too smart guys from the hood. Especially when real al-Qaida operatives could have placed deadly gases on New York subway trains, but passed on it because they felt like it. Oh, and up to the point of me writing this post, they have not been heard from let alone captured. Now that's scary! Have all the news conferences you want when you capture those guys.

As I mentioned earlier in this post black folks have now become a part of the suspect class in the war on terror. So I am also pretty pissed off about this latest arrest for selfish reasons. I know now that my previous pass at airport checkpoints is over, and I will now be scrutinized just as hard, if not harder, than the Arab guy next to me. Now I will just have to add "FWB" to "DWB", and be ready to have my ID ready at all times in airports too.

Hey, maybe that's what they wanted all along......mmmm.

**Just a note: The field-negro has added "Media Matters" to this blog. I know that they are left leaning, and I do try to stay as neutral as possible in the political gang wars. But I like the fact that they show actual clips, and as we all know, the tape doesn't lie.

Peace!