2/17/07

Republican Al Qa'eda Terrorist... No Joke

Ok... So the terrorism part first:
Terrorism charges brought Friday against the administrator of a loan investment program claimed that he secretly tried to send $152,000 to the Middle East to buy equipment such as night vision goggles for a terrorist training camp in Afghanistan.

Abdul Tawala Ibn Ali Alishtari, 53, of Ardsley, N.Y., pleaded not guilty in U.S. District Court in Manhattan to an indictment accusing him of terrorism financing, material support of terrorism and other charges. The charges carried a potential penalty of 95 years in prison.


But would you really believe me if I told you he was a Republican?
CBS News has confirmed that Alishtari is a donor to the Republican Party, as he claims on his curriculum vitae. Alishtari gave $15,500 to the National Republican Campaign Committee between 2002 and 2004, according to Federal Election Commission records. That amount includes $13,000 in 2003, a year when he claims to have been named NRCC New York State Businessman of the Year.

Alishtari also claims to be a lifetime member of the National Republican Senate Committee's Inner Circle, which the NRCC describes as "an impressive cross-section of American society – community leaders, business executives, entrepreneurs, retirees, and sports and entertainment celebrities – all of whom hold a deep interest in our nation's prosperity and security."


The Republican party needs to be placed on "The List" of terrorist related organizations and watched very carefully.

It is pretty apparent that the FBI and Homeland Security are wasting their time watching us liberal/peacenik/Quaker/progressive/etc. types. Just ask Ken Krayeske...

[updates] Thank you to those that got this story moving. Raw Story, Crooks and Liars, and Josh Marshall, whose his readers have been dig, dig, digging:

Choice artifacts they have dug up?

This:
Never too Late for this Story Update: Oh that's interesting. Cunning Realist found this CV purportedly posted by Mr. Alishtari. In addition to other GOP donor awards, Alishtari says that he was appointed to something called the "White House Business Advisory Committee" in 2003. And CR ends with this point, referencing Alishtari's CV: "Note the entrepreneurial business background with a focus on technology/security. Have any of those businesses ever received government contracts or funds? Any direct or indirect contact in the past with anyone from the Bush administration or Congress?"
That:

It tuns out Mr. Alishtari, the GOP campaign contributor indicted for sending funds for terrorist training camps in Afghanistan, had a fairly lively life online. TPM Reader TDP points to what purports to be Alishtari's blog. And in a rather rambling post there's a reference to an alleged meeting with VP Dick Cheney. "When I went to DC in the Fall of 2003 and met with VP Cheney, I was first in a room full of advisors where I asked how to resolve this and they advised me to talk to counsels which led to this solution."

Now, we can't be certain that this is actually Alishtari's blog, though I think the weight of evidence suggests that it is.
And the other thing:

He contributed a decent amount of money to GOP congressional campaign committees in the 2002 and 2004 cycles and managed get named to a number of 'committees' and 'councils' set up as perks for GOP campaign contributors, including something called the "White House Business Advisory Committee."

Now a reader of the Cunning Realist blog has dug up the archived version of the website of Mr. Alishtari's company, GlobalProtector, which shows that at the same time Alishtari was giving money to the GOP he was bidding on multiple government contracts -- including ones with the Pentagon and the Department of Homeland Security.

This story should have had legs of its own... What the heck was the NY Post doing trying to pass this guy off as a "Peace Activist"?

"A Westchester businessman and purported peace activist was nabbed by the feds for allegedly plotting to funnel more than $150,000 to terrorists at training camps in Afghanistan and Pakistan."


Peace activist my ass! This guy is so up to his eyeballs in the GOP and full of it.

10 comments:

TomT said...

Great catch!

Anonymous said...

Um, sorry, but who cares?

Anonymous said...

$152,000 is small potatoes. an interesting catch, still.

Connecticut Man1 said...

Thanks for the comments!

As far as it being small potatoes and noone caring about this? I think what TPM has dug up on this says it is kindof important, especially from the SCLM angle, and Rawstory linked it out from their front page.

There must be some merit to this story.

Sorry if you don't enjoy the irony of Republicans getting caught doing what they falsely claim liberals do... Supporting the terrorists, that is.

Anonymous said...

Republicans have to tire of just being on the recruitment side of terrorism...

Why not get directly involved? They've stomped their clumsy-assed feet all over everything else. The only upside to this story is Republicans are likely to ruin terrorism.. like everything else they touch.

Anonymous said...

This is OLD NEWS...Al Qaida was created by the CIA to kick the Ruskies out of Afghanistan...this is just another false flag operation whereby one agency forgot to tell another to lay off the guy.

For the layman, it is all explained here:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=786048453686176230&q=terrorstorm&hl=en

ctblogger said...

Great catch you drunk :-)

Jefro3000 said...

Sounds like a good story to me. Especially in light of the fanfare with which they announce the arrests of monsters like Jose Padilla. Wonder if Mr. Atari will get the whole sensory dep treatment. Like a Virgin!

Anonymous said...

Isn't it odd that on his CV, he has:

2003

Founder Global Peace Film Festival Inc. at www.Peacefilmfest.org.

?? That doesn't make any sense!

Connecticut Man1 said...

Jefro3000: I would rather all cases remain more public, and allow for Habeas Corpus. The Padilla example is an abomination considering the Constitution.

anon: There are a lot of oddities that have been pointed out in his background. Over at TPM Muckraker they said "it looked like someone trying to set up an insanity defense" (that is paraphrased AND they were half-joking) with how all over the place some of his activities were.

Even then, it still makes him an insane Republican, something there are too many of in the world today.

Thanks ctblogger!