Houston blogger arrested for terrorism? : Lone Star Times

Houston blogger arrested for terrorism?

by David Benzion · 02/13/2007 8:18 pm

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A former Houston man arrested in Kenya last month has been charged in Texas with teaming with al-Qaida to overthrow the Somali government and form an Islamic state there.

Daniel Joseph Maldonado, 28, also known as Daniel Aljughaifi, was ordered held without bail Tuesday on federal charges of undergoing military training with a terrorist organization and conspiring to use a destructive device.

Maldonado was returned to the United States on Monday night and appeared Tuesday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Calvin Botley, the U.S. attorney’s office in Houston said. A detention hearing is set for next week.

Maldonado’s arrest marks the first criminal prosecution of an American suspected of joining terrorists in Somalia, Assistant Attorney General Kenneth Wainstein said in a statement.

According to the criminal complaint, Maldonado traveled from Houston to Africa in November 2005. By December 2006, the complaint says, he was in Somalia and had joined with the Islamic Courts Union and elements of al-Qaida to fight in a rebellion designed to overthrow the Somali government and install an Islamic state.

The complaint says Maldonado was issued an AK-47 rifle and attended two military training camps at which members of al-Qaida were present.

Maldonado was captured by the Kenyan military on Jan. 21 as he fled Ethiopian and Somali forces. He was expelled by Kenya and turned over to U.S. officials for his return to Houston.

Let me preface what follows with the BIG disclaimer that everything I’m about to write is entirely circumstantial.

That said, there only appears to be one Daniel Aljughaifi bouncing around the Internet… and he has a blog.

He also appears to be an administrator and heavily involved with an online forum called The Islamic Network, although his last activity on the site appears to have been on 9/16/06.

Maybe we’re talking about two completely separate Daniel Aljughaifis here, in which case I apologize.

But not too much, since the Daniel Aljughaifi I’ve identified in the Islamic Network forum seems content to bitch about how unfair it was to convict Holocaust denier David Irving in Austria.

Other tidbits I noticed–Aljughaifi claims to be “half Puerto Rican and half white” and is “married to a black woman.” Good for him.

Also, a different forum user in April complained that Aljughaifi had suddenly dropped out of sight, and someone else named “Talib” (i.e, “student,” the root of the word “Taliban”) says they are looking to contact “Daniel” themselves.

All very innocuous, I’m sure, but I thought it was worth noting publicly.

DHS–are you listening?

NOTE–I’ve been meaning to write this for some time, but haven’t gotten around to it; now is the perfect opportunity.

I am friends with some very religious Muslims–wife wears the full-body covering, husband has a beard and prays five times a day, only eat Hallal meat, etc.–and they are some of the finest people I know.

Go ahead and express your opinions vigorously; feel free to be honest and blunt.

But anyone expressing racism or advocating violence will be banned, regardless of whether or not you or someone else has expressed similar sentiments on LST previously.

If you honestly have to wonder and worry that your comment might be considered racist and/or violent… there’s a clue that maybe you should tone it down or not post it at all.

If you’re not capable of expressing your opinion in a manner that respects the essential decency of other human beings (absent proactive proof to the contrary), your opinion is a better fit somewhere else.

David Benzion, Publisher

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Comments

10 Responses to “Houston blogger arrested for terrorism?”

EricPJohnson on February 13th, 2007 at 9:02 pm

How do you feel about it David?

Here we went into a tailors the sign was bright Blus and white and said Taliban Tailors

We also buy mutton from al Qaeda Butchery (the government closed them down)

There are tens of millions of Muslims being defined by the actions of a few thousand.

Most of the Arabs I know are the most sincere and affectionate people you will ever meet, spoil their children and have the most wicked sense of humor and women who wear the abayas have strong personalities

Contradictions, everywhere.

We’ve been all over Kuwait, Dubai, Saudi, Egypt (my girls have) flown over Bagdad, Tehran, the Islamic world is a dynamic and interesting place.

If we can only fix the Palestinian and the Iraq/Iran problem is what every Arab tells me.

Did you know the Asst Prime minister of Israel was here to listen and be questioned by GCC high school kids

Unheard of, Qatar is considering and pushing Saudi Arabia to open an embassy in Israel.

There will be terrorists among us, there will also be thousands of people you would want as friends.
Kevin Whited on February 13th, 2007 at 10:23 pm

But anyone expressing racism or advocating violence will be banned,

How about religious hatred/bigotry while you’re at it (since Islam is a religion, not a race)?

If you’re not capable of expressing your opinion in a manner that respects the essential decency of other human beings… your opinion is a better fit somewhere else.

Save those profanities for email, eh? Good advice!
Ayn on February 13th, 2007 at 11:06 pm

Kevin,

It is not advisable to venture unsolicited opinions. You should spare yourself the embarrassing discovery of their exact value to your listener.
clemente on February 13th, 2007 at 11:12 pm

I’d first remind of an obvious distinction: bigotries based on race, gender, or religion are frequent comrades, but they’re separate evils.

While followers of nearly all religions are trained to claim their own divinely-ordained spiritual superiority over disbelievers, the core texts of very few major religions dogmatically devalue people based specifically on race.

Gender bigotry is tragically still prevalent. Few religions will accept a woman as the full spiritual equal of a man.

While this gender-based bigotry is obviously deplorable, it becomes infinitely more oppressive when a religion demands totalitarian control over all legal, political, social and cultural aspects of its community.

And that vile, inhumane assertion becomes deadly when the religion’s doctrines make apostasy a capital offense.

Racial bigotry in religious (and most other) contexts is nearly always the product of demented petty leadership seeking to consolidate an untrusted or wavering power-base by exploiting ignorance, prejudice, and fear.

While the goals of bigots are always power and control, success can also be very profitable in terms of cash, real property, or other useful assets.
clemente on February 13th, 2007 at 11:13 pm

Kev, you beat me to the point!
Laurence Simon on February 14th, 2007 at 6:22 am

Apparently, My quoting Lincoln has become some kind of retort.

Keep in mind that I only quoted the first part of his quote.

Being a neocon, it’s the first half of that quote which bears relevance to most situations.
Amillennialist on February 14th, 2007 at 6:46 am

Muslim apologists for Jihad seeking to deceive naive and suicidally well-intentioned Western Infidels attempt to discredit and demonize critics of their god and prophet as “Islamophobes,” “racist,” or “extreme.” Other times, they accuse them of taking Islamic “holy” texts “out of context.”

Such accusations are shown to be only pitiful and deceptive ad hominem attacks when Allah and his apostle are allowed to speak for themselves. In traditional Islam, Qur’an, Ahadith, and Sira are considered authoritative.

In these texts Allah commands the fighting against, subduing and humiliating, and killing of non-Muslims:

EDITED BY BENZION– Excerpt WAY too long; readers can click here to read quotes.
Kevin Whited on February 15th, 2007 at 8:15 am

It is not advisable to venture unsolicited opinions. You should spare yourself the embarrassing discovery of their exact value to your listener.

Atlas *Shrugged*

(I think because he didn’t understand the point being made).

Anyway, I assume you mean listener figuratively and not literally, but since there are hundreds of readers (figurative listeners) here and it’s a mostly open forum, I (like Atlas?) must admit confusion over the point being made.
Amillennialist on February 16th, 2007 at 12:06 am

Here is the post to which Benzion should have linked:

http://amillennialist.blogspot.com/2004/07/allah-and-his-false-prophet-command.html

Allah says that in Mohammed humanity has a “beautiful pattern of conduct” and that the faithful must obey him. And what do the false prophet and his god demand?

“…fight and slay the Pagans wherever ye find them, and seize them, beleaguer them, and lie in wait for them in every stratagem (of war)…” (Qur’an 9:5).

“…Fight in the name of Allah and in the way of Allah. Fight against those who disbelieve in Allah. Make a holy war….When you meet your enemies who are polytheists, invite them to three courses of action….Invite them to (accept) Islam; if they respond to you, accept it from them and desist from fighting against them…If they refuse to accept Islam, demand from them the Jizya. If they agree to pay, accept it from them and hold off your hands. If they refuse to pay the tax, seek Allah’s help and fight them…’” (Muslim Book 019, Number 4294).

“I have been ordered (by Allah) to fight against the people until they testify that none has the right to be worshipped but Allah and that Muhammad is Allah’s Apostle…” (Bukhari Volume 1, Book 2, Number 24).
concernedAmerican on March 3rd, 2008 at 10:23 pm

What we don’t hear about Obama is what scares me. This article in the American Thinker is really eye opening and shows his Muslim/Arab leanings or favoritism in the Middle East.

This is a brilliant article:

http://www.americanthinker.com/2008/01/barack_obamas_middle_east_expe.html

Personally, this concerns me because I remember what we didn’t know about Bush junior coming into office…and that is Cheney (we didn’t really know him) and Rumsfeld. Then look what happened.

I’m not convinced that he is pro-Israel/anti-Arab extremists, especially after these very well documented articles in the American Thinker.

Also, he was on 60 Minutes last night (3/2/08) and when asked why people would think he is Muslim, he didn’t once mention that both his Father and Stepfather (who he grew up with) are Muslim and that his whole Paternal family is Muslim now. Why would he lie about this…he’s not proud of his family or his Father/Stepfather?

This makes me ask…”will the REAL Barack Hussein Obama please stand up.”