09/25/2012
Before he was Attorney General under GW Bush, Michael Mukasey was the judge in the trial of Omar abdel-Rahman, the so-called blind sheik for his direction of the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center which killed six and injured hundreds. So the AG knows the face of hostile Islam first hand, and sentenced Rahman to life in prison.
Mukasey was interviewed on Fox News Thursday regarding the possibility that Obama is considering the release of the killer sheik, which is a big issue in Egypt. in fact, the release was important enough to be promised as a goal by Mohammed Morsi in his Presidential inauguration.
The AG remarked that Rahman “aspired to become an Egyptian Khomeini by distributing his sermons on tape… and [Egyptians] want him out because he is a revered spiritual leader.” Mukasey is not impressed with the diplo-speak emanating from the State Department which carefully said there are “no plans” to release the fatwa-issuing criminal, and nothing has been discussed “recently.”
“I think the denials ought to come from the White House and from the Secretary of State. And they ought to be flat, clear and unequivocal. Nothing about recently, nothing about senior leaders, nothing that leaves any door open,” Mukasey said.
Instead of Obama admitting he was releasing a convicted hard-core terrorist, he would likely spin the action as a “transfer” to Egypt based on “humanitarian” concerns — similar to Scotland’s freeing of the Lockerbie bomber al-Megrahi in 2009 because he was supposedly near death, although he miraculously perked up and lived three years longer.
“The enormity of something like that can’t possibly be overstated,” the AG stressed about a possible release or transfer.
“Would it be like releasing bin Laden?” asked Megyn Kelly.
“Yes, understand that one of bin Laden’s grievances that led him to undertake 9/11 was the fact that abdel-Rahman was in jail… it would give some sort of posthumous vindication.”
Here’s a news report about the issue:
O eyes ‘blind sheik’ release, New York Post, September 20, 2012
The Obama administration is weighing the release of blind Sheik Omar Abdel-Rahman — the spiritual adviser to the 1993 World Trade Center bombers — in a stunning goodwill gesture toward Egypt that has touched off a political firestorm, officials said yesterday.
The Egyptian government “asked for his release,” an administration source told The Post — and Rep. Peter King (R-LI) confirmed the request is being considered.
The White House, State Department and Justice Department each issued statements denying any deal is in the works, but, “There’s no way to believe anything they say,” said Andrew McCarthy, the former assistant US attorney who prosecuted Abdel-Rahman. “I believe there may already be a nod-and-wink agreement in place.”
Abdel-Rahman, 74, was convicted in 1995 of plotting terror attacks throughout the city and is locked away in the medical wing of the Butner Federal Correctional Institution in North Carolina.
He remains revered in his native Egypt, and his supporters have demonstrated throughout Cairo for his freedom.
Newly elected Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi, a member of the radical Muslim Brotherhood, has publicly vowed to press the United States to turn over the sightless sheik.
His incarceration was the subject of Arabic-language message-board rants two days before protesters stormed the US Embassy in Cairo and later killed the American ambassador to Libya, Christopher Stevens, according to a Department of Homeland Security report obtained by Fox News.
They wrote he should be released, “even if it requires burning the embassy down with everyone in it.”
King and other congressional Republicans sent a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, saying, “The release of Abdel-Rahman or any terrorist who plots to kill innocent Americans would be seen for what it is: a sign of weakness and a lack of resolve by the United States and its president.”
National Security Council spokesman Tommy Vietor said last night, “The blind sheik is going to serve out his life sentence. There are no discussions about transferring him. These reports are wrong.”
Justice spokesman Dean Boyd added, “Suggestions that the US government is planning to transfer or release the blind sheik to Egypt are totally false and absolutely baseless. He remains in federal prison where he is serving a life sentence for terrorism violations.”
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