Posted by
Gayle Plato-Besley, M. Ed. on Friday, May 30, 2008 1:23:10 PM
The second section of the Arizona Republic had a huge story below the fold yesterday:
"The mixed verdict followed a two-week trial that ended with jurors unable to reach a unanimous decision about whether Alavi "knowingly and intentionally" took the software in violation of a U.S. trade embargo with Iran."
(http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2008/05/28/20080528alavi0528.htm)
An Iranian family man, Mohammad Alavi, 50, worked at Palo Verde, decided to move home toTehran and copied a plant training manual. It explained how employees were to react in emergy situations. The attorney officially said at trial that Mohammad Alavi thought it would help him secure a job back home as he know no one had information like this in Iran. Hmmm... that sounds premeditated. It also sounds 'spooky', PUN INTENDED.
Though the trial is not new news and I understand it not being the top story of the day in and of itself, the fact that the jury deadlocked regarding material the authorities say posed no security threat is news. NO THREAT? It is a threat the moment an Iranian National, with 30 years of ties in America, can knowingly take home the how-to pages of our nuclear power plant's workings. I would be concerned if he took them to the corner Circle K let alone the inner sactum of the nuclear program in Iran.
Terrorist activity does not happen in direct path-like movements. It's a cloaked puzzle-piece of action. Frankly, all detailed illegal activity is a scatter-plot of movement. If it is pre-meditated it is calculated. Ther more intelligent the criminal, the more likely the plan of action involves random-like behavior. It's covering up the tracks. Terrorists, planning to drop nuclear bombs in our cities, are not stupid nor lone gunmen. This stuff is complicated and desperate Nationals coming home looking for work are primo partners in crime.
One of the most important articles written in the last few months about terrorism is the piece-
AMERICA IN ASHES?
"While the mainstream media currently mostly ignore this story and the almost certain fact that a nuclear plot is ongoing today, Senator Joseph Lieberman has held at least three separate hearings in 2008 of his Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs on this very subject.
The testimony from experts summoned to these hearings has been grim. Nobody doubts that once terrorists acquire fissile material, which is either Highly Enriched Uranium (HEU) or plutonium, a bomb is within their theoretical capacity and will to make and use. A simple gun-type device, like that used for the atom bomb dropped on Hiroshima, is sufficient to yield a one to ten kiloton explosion. "-
May 23, 2008
By Christopher S. Carson
FrontPageMagazine.com
Main-stream media reported five years ago that Palo Verde was targeted by terrorist for attack and that federal agents were tracking potential sleeper cells in Arizona. (http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,81692,00.html)
The FBI's website hosts a statement from it's director Robert Mueller stating :
Al Qaeda is still seeking to infiltrate operatives into the U.S. from overseas who have no known nexus to terrorism using both legal and possibly illegal methods of entry.
We also believe, if it can, al Qaeda will obtain and use some form of chemical, biological, radiological, or nuclear material.
Al Qaeda’s choice of targets and attack methods will most likely continue to focus on economic targets, such as aviation, the energy sector, and mass transit; soft targets such as large public gatherings; and symbolic targets, such as monuments and government buildings.(http://www.fbi.gov/congress/congress07/mueller011107.htm)
We cannot sit back and wait for terrorists to slowly dismantle our way of life. It seems they are starting with our local FBI branch office. How can any agent say this activity by Mohammad Alavi was not sinister and suspicious? Is he a member of a sleeper cell or a terrorist, I do not know. But who in their right mind would think as an Iranian he could steal from a nuclear plant without great risk? Who would put his family at great risk after living here for 30 years, Americanized, with a history of being a good person, following the rules? Who indeed?