Author Topic: Jihad Jane goes to Sweden  (Read 6129 times)

Offline oilgun

  • BetterMost 1000+ Posts Club
  • ******
  • Posts: 3,564
Jihad Jane goes to Sweden
« on: March 13, 2010, 02:54:18 pm »

'Jihad Jane' Creates A Calamity For Authorities

March 10, 2010

In Web chat rooms, she called herself "Jihad Jane."

Her real name is Colleen LaRose, and she represents law enforcement's worst nightmare. A petite, 46-year-old blond from the leafy suburbs of Philadelphia, she is what investigators worry is the new face of terrorism.

LaRose, in U.S. custody since last October, allegedly tried to recruit men and women in the United States, Europe and Asia to "wage violent jihad," according to a federal indictment unsealed Tuesday. She is scheduled to answer the charges against her in a Philadelphia court appearance on March 18.

But U.S. intelligence officials tell NPR that LaRose was not, apparently, that much of a threat. While she wanted to launch a terrorist attack, she didn't have the training to do so.

She was what counterterrorism experts call an "aspirational" terrorist, not an operational one. U.S. officials were less alarmed about what she was planning to do — and more concerned with how she looked, because she doesn't fit the profile of an international terrorist. American women as jihadists are so rare, LaRose is only the second American woman ever to be brought up on terrorism charges.

What is known about her life seems unremarkable. She dropped out of high school. She's been married several times. Until several months ago, she was living with her boyfriend in Pennsylvania.

The petite woman — officials say she is just 4 feet 11 inches tall and weighs about 100 pounds — had some run-ins with the law in Texas, where she lived before moving to Pennsylvania. She had been arrested for drunk driving and for writing bad checks.

Beyond that, details about her background are sketchy. Officials say she converted to Islam, but it is unclear exactly when. There are some photographs of her in which she was covered by traditional Muslim dress — wearing a hijab over her hair and an abaya over her clothes. But it is unclear whether she covered herself all the time or just for those photographs.
Colleen LaRose, a Pennsylvania woman accused of using the Internet to recruit jihadist fighters.
Enlarge SITE Intelligence Group/AP

This image provided by the SITE Intelligence Group shows Colleen LaRose, a Pennsylvania woman indicted Tuesday and accused of using the Internet to recruit jihadist fighters and help terrorists overseas.
Colleen LaRose, a Pennsylvania woman accused of using the Internet to recruit jihadist fighters.
SITE Intelligence Group/AP

This image provided by the SITE Intelligence Group shows Colleen LaRose, a Pennsylvania woman indicted Tuesday and accused of using the Internet to recruit jihadist fighters and help terrorists overseas.

Investigators confirmed to NPR that her boyfriend of five years said she wasn't religious and he had not even realized she was Muslim. Apparently she moved out of their apartment quite suddenly last August, which raises the question as to whether her conversion to Islam was sudden or just stealthy.

She was arrested in Philadelphia in October. According to the indictment released Tuesday, LaRose had been trolling the Internet under a couple of pseudonyms including the name Jihad Jane. She had allegedly made contact with some terrorist suspects in Europe and South Asia.

Eventually she apparently agreed to try to kill a Swedish artist named Lars Vilks, who had drawn the ire of many Muslims for penning a cartoon of the Prophet Muhammad with the body of a dog. Al-Qaida had put a $100,000 bounty on his head, though officials say LaRose had no connection to the group.

LaRose apparently made the case that with her blond hair and green eyes she could operate easily in Sweden and so it would be easier for her to commit the murder.

Prosecutors say she traveled to Europe to do the job in August, about the same time she moved out of the apartment she was sharing with her boyfriend.

She didn't carry out her mission. The cartoonist is still alive.

She is also charged with stealing her boyfriend's passport and conspiring to give it to one of the terrorism suspects she allegedly met online.

But U.S. intelligence officials say they are less concerned about the plot than about the broader implications of an American woman in her mid-40s suddenly signing up for jihad.

She breaks the stereotypical profile of what a terrorist is supposed to be like — that is, disenfranchised young men nursing resentments. What's more, prosecutors say LaRose understood well that what she brought to the table was a profile that wouldn't attract the attention of law enforcement.

That development has intelligence officials worried. They knew this day was coming, when the pool of terrorist suspects would grow.

And authorities allege that she went further. On the Internet she allegedly tried to recruit others for terrorism, specifically looking for women and for people who held U.S. and European passports because they could move around more easily.


source: http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/323jEG/www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=124651871&ft=1&f=1001/r:t

Ok, so which actress should play her in the movie adaptation, Charlize Theron?   ;D

Offline delalluvia

  • BetterMost 5000+ Posts Club
  • *******
  • Posts: 8,289
  • "Truth is an iron bride"
Re: Jihad Jane goes to Sweden
« Reply #1 on: March 13, 2010, 03:21:59 pm »
She may not fit the stereotypical LOOK of a jihadist terrorist, but her background has similar themes.  Disenfranchised, powerless, a failure by society's standards.  Who says you have to be a young man to nurture resentments?

Offline David In Indy

  • BetterMost Supporter!
  • BetterMost Moderator
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 18,447
  • You've Got Male
Re: Jihad Jane goes to Sweden
« Reply #2 on: March 13, 2010, 03:42:44 pm »
This just proves once again that racial/cultural profiling does not work. How many more blond hair, blue eyed terrorists are out there?

Dogs have owners. Cats have staff.

Offline Sason

  • BetterMost Moderator
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 14,164
  • Bork bork bork
Re: Jihad Jane goes to Sweden
« Reply #3 on: March 13, 2010, 03:45:17 pm »
Lars Vilks lives not that far from me. He's always done creative and controversial stuff.

I think he's best known for two things; he's the president of the on-line nation of Ladonia (anyone can become a citizen! http://www.ladonia.net/), and the magnificent artwork "Nimis"

Once he tried to sell the municipality of Höganäs where he lives. He put an ad in the paper, offered it to potential buyers for 1 krona (about 15 cents)!!!   :laugh: :laugh:

Some pics of Nimis












It's great fun to climb there!!



And some pics of Arx, a stone book:




The stone book "Arx" copy 1 and a part of copy 2. The book has 352 pages which cannot be turned. The reader has to move himself.




A closer view on Arx 1. The highest peak (6 meters) is chapter 2. Arx 1 is partly rebuilt (and much stronger) after several attacks by vandals with sledge-hammers.

In the middle you´ll find the chapter called "LUG" (a celtic god) connected with the rest of the book with girders ("strings of communication"). In "LUG" there is a gold ring which can be touched by the reader.






Both Nimis and Arx are built in a nature reserve, "Kullaberg", and he's been to court on numerous occasions because of it. But somehow he always manages to get off the hook, usually in very creative and unpredictable ways.

When Nimis was threatened by being removed, he all of a sudden presented a document stating that he had sold it to someone else, hence Lars Vilks couldn't be put to trial for it, and wasn't responsible for it anymore!  :D

And when Arx, which was initially just a stone sculpture, was being questioned in court, he officially named it a book, and hence it was protected by the freedom of the press act!!  ;D




Düva pööp is a förce of natüre

Offline milomorris

  • BetterMost 5000+ Posts Club
  • *******
  • Posts: 6,428
  • No crybabies
Re: Jihad Jane goes to Sweden
« Reply #4 on: March 13, 2010, 04:16:52 pm »
This just proves once again that racial/cultural profiling does not work. How many more blond hair, blue eyed terrorists are out there?

Right. Racial profiling doesn't work. But "Jane" is just one Philadelphia-area terrorist in the news.





Al-Qaida suspect from US tricked his Yemeni guard

By AHMED AL-HAJ (AP) – 47 minutes ago

SAN'A, Yemen — An American al-Qaida suspect detained in Yemen fooled his hospital guards into unshackling him by asking to join them for prayers, security officials said Saturday. He then killed a guard who laid down his weapons as he went ahead at prayer time.

The new details of Sharif Mobley's failed escape attempt, obtained by The Associated Press, indicate the 26-year-old American of Somali descent has a level of training and cunning characteristic of the terror network.

The story of a young American Muslim drawn to Yemen, ostensibly to study Arabic, has once again demonstrated the reach of the country's year-old al-Qaida offshoot, which was behind the Christmas Day attempt to blow up an airliner as it approached Detroit. The suspect in that attack, a young Nigerian Muslim, went to Yemen and used Arabic study as a cover, Yemeni authorities have said.

Mobley had traveled to Yemen two years ago and was recently arrested there in a sweep that netted 10 other al-Qaida suspects.

Mobley made his bold escape attempt March 7 after being transferred from prison to a hospital in the capital, San'a, for medical treatment. He tried to shoot his way out of the hospital, killing one guard and seriously injuring another before being recaptured.

Two senior Yemeni officials involved in Mobley's case said he was being treated for complications from a metal rod implanted in his leg some time in the past. The prison doctor had asked to transfer him to the hospital where he stayed for a week.

The officials agreed to discuss details of Mobley's attempted escape on condition of anonymity because the investigation has not finished.

At the hospital, Mobley befriended his guards and asked them to teach him Arabic. He performed prayers and read the Quran with them.

Then a week ago, the officials said, Mobley asked his guard to unshackle him from his hospital bed at prayer time. The guard did and then went into a washroom ahead of Mobley to perform ritual ablutions required before the five daily prayers in Islam, leaving his gun unattended.

Mobley snatched the gun and shot the guard twice — first in the head, then in the chest — as he walked out of the washroom.

When a second guard outside heard the shots, he rushed in. Mobley shot him in the kidney and abdomen, leaving him in serious condition. Mobley was then chased around the hospital until he surrendered.

One of the senior officials said Mobley's targeting indicates he is highly trained in the use of firearms and criticized the negligence of the prison guards.

He also said Mobley had been in the high security intelligence prison after being detained a few months ago. That timeframe contradicted a statement by the Yemeni Embassy in Washington, which had said Mobley was detained earlier this month.

U.S. officials say Mobley had been a laborer at six U.S. nuclear power plants before traveling to Yemen. U.S. authorities are investigating whether he had access to sensitive information or materials that would be useful to terrorists.

U.S. officials say Mobley traveled to Yemen with the goal of joining a terrorist group and that the U.S. government was aware of his potential extremist ties long before his arrest. The Yemeni officials said Mobley was not on Yemen's list of wanted militants.

U.S. intelligence officials have warned of the possibility that al-Qaida and other extremist movements overseas could be seeking to radicalize American Muslims and recruit them.

Mobley grew up in Buena, New Jersey. His parents said he is not a terrorist, though a former friend said Mobley was becoming increasingly radical in his Muslim beliefs before he moved to Yemen. His mother last spoke to him in January.

Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, whose leadership includes Saudis and Yemenis, took root in Yemen a year ago, taking advantage of the impoverished country's chronic instability and finding shelter among sympathetic tribes who are hostile to the weak central government.

Under U.S. pressure and with the help of American aid, training and intelligence, Yemen's government has battled the al-Qaida militants. But its forces, which are also battling a separate rebel insurgency in the north of the country, are stretched thin.

Until December's failed airliner attack, the al-Qaida affiliate had only struck inside Yemen, including deadly bombings outside the U.S. Embassy.

On Friday, a Philadelphia imam, Anas Muhaimin, said he tried to discourage Mobley from traveling to Yemen because he believed the country was unsafe. Muhaimin said the young man attended prayer services occasionally, but hadn't been to the mosque in about three years.

Copyright © 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
  The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.

--Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Offline oilgun

  • BetterMost 1000+ Posts Club
  • ******
  • Posts: 3,564
Re: Jihad Jane goes to Sweden
« Reply #5 on: March 13, 2010, 04:46:33 pm »
Lars Vilks lives not that far from me. He's always done creative and controversial stuff.

I think he's best known for two things; he's the president of the on-line nation of Ladonia (anyone can become a citizen! http://www.ladonia.net/), and the magnificent artwork "Nimis"

Both Nimis and Arx are built in a nature reserve, "Kullaberg", and he's been to court on numerous occasions because of it. But somehow he always manages to get off the hook, usually in very creative and unpredictable ways.

When Nimis was threatened by being removed, he all of a sudden presented a document stating that he had sold it to someone else, hence Lars Vilks couldn't be put to trial for it, and wasn't responsible for it anymore!  :D

And when Arx, which was initially just a stone sculpture, was being questioned in court, he officially named it a book, and hence it was protected by the freedom of the press act!!  ;D




What fabulous works!  I love that people can just go and climb all over them.

Offline Sason

  • BetterMost Moderator
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 14,164
  • Bork bork bork
Re: Jihad Jane goes to Sweden
« Reply #6 on: March 13, 2010, 04:55:26 pm »
What fabulous works!  I love that people can just go and climb all over them.

Yes, Kullaberg is a very popular place to go for nature experience, it's unique in its character.

And Nimis and Arx only deepens the experience. They are not all that easily accessed though,

there is a bit of a hike to reach the point of the coast where they're located. But it's well worth it,

it's a beautiful spot, and great fun to climb and explore Nimis!!

There's always lots of people in the summer, and Lars Vilks is there every day too, building away and expanding on his  creation!

Düva pööp is a förce of natüre

Offline David In Indy

  • BetterMost Supporter!
  • BetterMost Moderator
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 18,447
  • You've Got Male
Re: Jihad Jane goes to Sweden
« Reply #7 on: March 13, 2010, 05:29:34 pm »
Right. Racial profiling doesn't work. But "Jane" is just one Philadelphia-area terrorist in the news.



I don't understand your argument. So what are you saying? That since only one blonde haired woman has been caught we shouldn't worry about it? This just proves that ANYONE of any race or religion is capable of becoming a terrorist - not just Arab people or dark skinned people or Muslims.

Thank GOD they caught her before she had a chance to execute her diabolic plans. Had she been screened or monitored beforehand, they probably would have caught her sooner. But since she's white and blonde, she slipped through the cracks... until now.

Profiling does not work, it is potentially dangerous and it isn't fair. I'm sure that artist in Sweden - Lars Vilks - would agree with me. She wanted to go over there and KILL him!
Dogs have owners. Cats have staff.

Offline Sason

  • BetterMost Moderator
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 14,164
  • Bork bork bork
Re: Jihad Jane goes to Sweden
« Reply #8 on: March 13, 2010, 05:35:42 pm »

Profiling does not work, it is potentially dangerous and it isn't fair. I'm sure that artist in Sweden - Lars Vilks - would agree with me. She wanted to go over there and KILL him!

I don't quite know what you mean by profiling, but be careful to presume what Lars Vilks thinks or don't think. He usually has his own opinions about most things, and they are seldom what you expect.

Only yesterday there was an interview where he stated that he isn't particularly scared, and that he's taken measures to protect himself.


Actually, the more I think of it, the more I wonder how you can say anything at all about what somebody you don't know at all agrees on.

Düva pööp is a förce of natüre

Offline David In Indy

  • BetterMost Supporter!
  • BetterMost Moderator
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 18,447
  • You've Got Male
Re: Jihad Jane goes to Sweden
« Reply #9 on: March 13, 2010, 05:39:11 pm »
You don't think he's glad they caught her before she had a chance to kill him? That's all I meant by that comment.
Dogs have owners. Cats have staff.