THE WISDOM FUND: News & Views
May 4, 2010
The Wisdom Fund

Times Square, NY: Muslim 'Leaders' Never Miss an Opportunity to Miss an Opportunity

by Enver Masud

The name of the alleged perpetrator of the New York, Times Square bombing plot had barely hit the news headlines, when Muslim "leaders" began voicing the usual platitudes.

"Muslims Welcome Arrest in Times Square Bomb Plot" -- from the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR).

"MPAC Commends Law Enforcement's Swift Action to Apprehend Suspected Times Square Plotter" -- from the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC).

"ISNA Commends Efforts of Law Enforcement, Condemns Attempted Bombing at Times Square, and Lauds Alert Citizens" -- from the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA).

If indeed the alleged perpetrator, Faisal Shahzad, 30 -- who was taken into custody at Kennedy Airport on board an Emirates flight to Dubai -- is guilty of the Times Square plot, did Muslim "community leaders" stop to ask, "Why"?

Apparently not, and neither did the news media, despite nonstop coverage of the event for several days.

Assuming, for the purpose of argument only, that Shahzad is guilty as charged, why did he do it?

Was the preemptive war on Iraq to find nonexistent weapons of mass destrutction, where more than one million Muslims have been killed by US forces, a factor in why Shahzad made the crude attempt to blow up his rigged van?

Was the unlawful war on Afghanistan (it was not authorized by the UN Security Council, and to this day the US FBI has not charged Bin Laden with the September 11, 2001 attack on the US), where countless more Muslims have been killed, a factor?

Was the undeclared, unlawful, but very obvious war on Pakistan, where hundreds of Muslims have been killed by drones and US special forces, a factor?

Muslim leaders, never missing an opportunity to miss an opportunity, failed to ask the all important, "why".

The Sunday London Times reported that Aliou Niasse, a street vendor selling framed photographs of New York, saw the "car containing the bomb, which pulled up right in front of his cart on the corner of 45th street and Broadway next to the Marriott hotel." Said Niasse:

I didn't see the car pull up or notice the driver because I was busy with customers. But when I looked up I saw that smoke appeared to be coming from the car. This would have been around 6.30pm.

I thought I should call 911, but my English is not very good and I had no credit left on my phone, so I walked over to Lance, who has the T-shirt stall next to mine, and told him. He said we shouldn't[sic] call 911. Immediately he alerted a police officer near by.

Aliou Niasse, reportedly a Muslim from Senegal, received little attention in US news media.

Shahzad was charged with "terrorism and attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction"[sic].

Does this mean that the US will now launch preemptive strikes on states capable of rigging vans to explode?

While every item of information on the Times Square plot was meticulously examined by the US news media (except for "why"), the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty review conference, being held at the United Nations in New York, received less critical examination.

Just in case you're wondering, of course we're opposed to violence, and "terrorism".

The path to lasting peace and security goes through truth, justice, and compassion.



Enver Masud, "Our Own Worst Enemy," The Wisdom Fund, June 20, 2001

"Bush Administration Exploited Terror Plots For Political Gain," Huffington Post, February 23, 2008

Wayne Madsen, "False flag raised on Times Square," waynemadsenreport.com, May 3, 2010

Moin Ansari, "False Flag in Times Square," Pakistan Daily, May 4, 2010

Stephen Lendman, "New York Car Bomb Incident: Another False Flag?," baltimorechronicle.com, May 5, 2010

[By Occam's razor, the simplest explanation is usually the right one. Looking at America's wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan, Maj. Hasan, Abdulmutallab, and Shahzad decided that what we call the war on terror was in reality a war on Islam.--Patrick J. Buchanan, "Is the War Coming Home?," antiwar.com, May 10, 2010]

"The Times Square Bomber," The Truther Girls, May 10, 2010

[If we want Times Square to be safer from terrorists, we need to start by helping make Pakistan safer as well.--Nicholas Kristof, "Pakistan and Times Sq.," New York Times, May 12, 2010]

[According to the ISI leak, the Times Square terror plot was a "false flag operation to implicate the Pakistani Taliban and then threaten and force Pakistan to 'do more' in North Waziristan". This was followed by "a massive media disinformation war" to induce the belief that "all global terrorism is emerging from the Pakistani tribal pocket of North Waziristan, and that the ISI/army is either hands and gloves with the Taliban or not willing to do more"--Maidhc O Cathail, "Framing Pakistan: how the pro-Israel media enables India's surrogate warfare," Redress, May 27, 2010]

Benjamin Weiser and Colin Moynihan, "Times Square Bomb Plotter Pleads Guilty in Terror Case," New York Times, June 21, 2010

[I want to plead guilty, and I'm going to plead guilty 100 times over, because until the hour the U.S. pulls its forces from Iraq and Afghanistan, and stops the drone strikes in Somalia and Yemen and in Pakistan, and stops the occupation of Muslim lands, and stops killing the Muslims, and stops reporting the Muslims to its government, we will be attacking U.S., and I plead guilty to that.--Michael Moore, "Juan Williams Is Right -- Political Correctness About Terrorists Must End!," huffingtonpost.com, October 25, 2010]

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