Illegal Alien Arrested After Planning To Bomb Capitol

Washington Post: Federal agents arrest Amine El Khalifi; he allegedly planned to bomb Capitol

Federal authorities on Friday arrested a 29-year-old Moroccan man in an alleged plot to carry out a suicide bombing at the U.S. Capitol, the latest in a series of terrorism-related arrests resulting from undercover sting operations.

For more than a year, Amine El Khalifi, of Alexandria, considered attacking targets including a synagogue, an Alexandria building with military offices and a Washington restaurant frequented by military officials, authorities said. When arrested a few blocks from the Capitol around lunchtime on Friday, he was carrying what he believed to be a loaded automatic weapon and a suicide vest ready for detonation.

Khalifi has been illegally living in the US since he was 16.

Certainly, that's a rather damning indictment of the laxity towards both illegal immigrants and Islamic militants in the DC area. And it also raises some more questions about a mosque that seems to keep drawing more than its share of terrorism suspects:

As news of the arrest spread, several members of the mosque Khalifi visited expressed concern that they could be thrust into the spotlight once again, even though Khalifi was not thought to have been a regular worshiper at the mosque.

Dar Al-Hijrah has weathered repeated criticism for ties to worshipers who were found to have been terrorism suspects. The mosque’s leaders have noted that, as one of the largest mosques in the Mid-Atlantic, it attracts worshipers from all over, including many who attend infrequently.

Of course, the usual suspects are also worried about these FBI Sting operations stopping poor innocent jihadis:

Ashraf Nubani, a Muslim lawyer in Washington who has defended terrorism suspects in similar cases in the past, said he has has watched with alarm the increase of such FBI stings.

Perhaps his alarm is because they are quite successful in stopping the attacks.

“It’s controlled from beginning to end by FBI. But you can’t create a terrorism case and then say you stopped it,” Nubani said. “Had the FBI not been involved, through their manipulation or informants, would the same thing have happened? Would there be attempted violence? They have their sights on certain people, the ones who talk big talk.”

So Nubani seems to be advocating the FBI should start ignoring [certain] people talking about committing acts of terrorism. Remember folks, its not entrapment if you jump right in, nor when you seek out terrorist materials on your mission of inner self-improvement.

Good job to the FBI for interdicting this attack, and may it wake up our solons in DC regarding the problems of both illegal immigration and its connection to terrorism, and to the continued presence of militant Islamists in our midst.