The news reports have been coming in all day about the Fort Dix plot. Terrorists planning to buy weapons, to kill US soldiers. Islamic extremists on a jihad. The news reports showed police bravely bursting into the ordinary looking homes where these terrorists hid among us, and court sketches of bearded foreign men being arraigned for their crimes. They talked about how lucky we were that this was caught in time.
The names of the six arrested men were given - only one of which was familar to me. Agron Abdullahu, who is the older brother of one of my son's best friends. Agron, 24, who can often be seen outside his family home working on cars with his brothers. Who checked out our groceries at the local ShopRite. Who, along with his family, was Albanian-born but now a US citizen. The others arrested, but not Abdullahu, were charged with plotting to kill soldiers in an armed attack on Fort Dix using a variety of weapons including automatic machine guns and semiautomatic rifles. Abdullahu was charged with aiding and abetting the Duka brothers' illegal possession of weapons.
When you see a news report about terrorists and terrorism, it is easy to buy into the fear mentality. I heard this all day long around the neighborhood - how frightening that this had happened so close to home, how we are not safe in our own backyards, how such a monster who would kill US soldiers could have hid in plain sight among us.
When I read Bill Bradley's book not long ago, one of the things he said that stuck with me is that we must realize that every case of terrorism is not the same. We have to stop waving the fearful banner of 'terrorism', and realize that each of these situations is unique. These were not men funded by an international terrorist organization. None of them were even from the Middle East - they were Eastern Europeans.
Steve's friend has spoken to him about his childhood during the Yugoslavian wars - how he'd come to America at the age of five, but before that, he'd lived where they'd seen bodies rotting in the street on a daily basis. Walking by bodies with their eyes gouged out, or the heads pulped, putrifying in the streets. According to the news, Agron had been a sniper in Kosovo. He would have been little more than my son's age, fourteen, at the time. Growing up like that among the bodies and the shooting and the war - you have to wonder what that does to a developing mind. What a child absorbs from that, and how that contributed to whatever mindset he got into that made him want to be a part of this plot.
On the news reports, they show the door to the Abdullahu house as the police raid it in the middle of the night in their riot gear. What they do not show - what they do not say - is that Agron was not living there alone. He was not living there with other terrorists - he lived there with his family, who likely had no indication whatsoever of the activities he was involved with. Imagine the terror a mother, a father, brothers as young as junior high age feel as police raid their house in the middle of the night and haul off one of their own.
All day long this family's house was surrounded by reporters, gawking neighbors, pointing and whispering and gesturing:
I knew they were terrorists with a last name like that.
They're foreigners - we should have known it was them.
I always knew there was something 'wrong' with that family.
The actions of an invidual should not refect upon his family - but they do. It is a sad fact that many people cannot separate this in their minds - and I worry what they will do in the name of 'patriotism'. When we dehumanize terrorists and terrorism, to make them monsters in the face of the media- we open the door for the poor treatment of relatives, religious and ethnic groups that people associate with their concept of terrorism. Prosecute those involved in acts of terror; but do not persecute them.
My son wanted to see his friend, to see how he was holding up with his brother being arrested. I gave him permission to go down there, and he waded through the reporters and gawkers to the door. Mrs. Abdullahu answered the door and told Steve to come back tomorrow. He will come back tomorrow, too. On the way back from the door, reporters swarmed around him and asked if he would make a statement - if he knew the Abdullahus, and what they were really like. Steve told them to leave the family alone, and that he had nothing to say. I was very proud of him.
"How could you let your son go over to the terrorist house?" I was asked.
I told them that there was no danger. The young man who was arrested for terrorism was no longer in the house. Steve went over there, not to gawk, stare, or speculate - but to support his friend. And would go back tomorrow, as well. And continue to visit his friend as he usually does - with both my permission and my support.
Am I thankful that these attacks were stopped before these men bought guns? Absolutely.
Am I fearful for my life, having lived so close to one of them? Absolutely not.
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Comments: 169
They don't let you know that there was a family in there, you know? You just hear about the terrorist, the monster that they stopped just in the nick of time.
I agree with you not pulling your son away from his friend but at some points it seems you are almost making excuses for the terrorist. Yes, he may have seen horrible things in his past but we all know two wrongs do not make a right. As for me, I also am not totally sure I would trust the whole family myself. Yes, Laura, the media do not give the whole story but then you, as a neighbor did not know the whole story either or you would have known this side so I would just be cautious. I respect everyone's opinion and know some may not agree but this is what I feel. I am sure if he would not have been caught and had gone on to kill some Americans, no one would care then about the police moving into the house like trhat and believe me I am not a pro police person. LOL Anyway, we can only pray not too many more lives are shed. That's about all I have to say.
I hope your son's friend is able to keep his perspective and not hold this situation against 'all' Americans. You and your son are to be commended for your generous attitude towards your neighbors... obviously a lot of your other neighbors are not so open minded!
Great article.
Thanks for sharing this story...a perspective we don't often see in the media.
I found Robb's Comment quite alarming:
With one terrorist in the household, you never know what's going through the minds of the others because you're not familiar with them as people. I know we're innocent until proven guilty, but I'd want them all taken into custody...until it could be proven they weren't a threat. Better safe than sorry...
Have we really gone that far in this country that you would want innocent people arrested "just to be safe?". According to reports, the police have been investigating this case for 16 months. If they had any reason to suspect the rest of the family, I'm sure they would have arrested them as well.
I just cannot find the words to express how truely disturbing I find Robb's comment.
I have heard a little of the news. It doesn't sound good for those who have been arrested.
However, ( I never would have believed I could become SO cynical!) there have been multiple arrests over the past several years of alleged terrorists that turned out to be a lot less than was originally stated.
On more than one occasion the administration has, when it was in trouble politically, made a shrill headline grabbing announcement, which afterwards turned out to be over-hyped and possibly designed to divert the public's attention from other matters.
I hope that is not what's going on this time.
Oh for the days when I had complete faith in our government. Before I learned how capable they are of lying to us...of manipulating us with fear of terrorism.
Once again, Robs true colors shine through in his comments, almost as plainly as they did in his "holla fo da dolla" article.
Bravo Rob, quite the spokesman for your "master race".
You are a great mother wih common sense.
Fear makes people do stupid shit, and develop strange beliefs.
A rational person know that each person is an individual, and each situation is unique.
A rational person understands that blanket prejudice and judgement based upon generalities is irrational thinking.
There are exceptions to every rule.
You did right.
Spread love, not fear.
You have all my hopes. May your neighborhood find peace again, and may it turn out that they had no serious plans to do any real harm.
The media only reports what they want us to know. And rarely is it the truth!
You did a great thing for your son, but I am sure that you are aware of that.
Terrorist are not only as you described or as we think. Many of us have terrorist in our back yards. Some are worse than others of course. However, the drug dealers and the illegal weapon dealers are also terrorist.
Standing Ovation!
Great article and I loved the way you wrote about it
Who was to know that the house WASN'T full of guns and explosives.
who was to know that all the male members weren't involved?
Hard thing on folks, but seemingly so is raising their children with love and respect for their adopted country.
But of course I might be wrong.
As to the arrest, being that it was for guns and such, there could've been guns in the home - so I don't think the police did anything wrong, they protected themselves and the neighbors by going in at a time when most wouldn't be out and about.
Congratulations on raising a seemingly well-grounded child, and for getting past the fear that 'they' want you to feel in this situation and being able to see that these were still your friends and neighbors. The family is fortunate to have at least one neighbor who doesn't assume their guilt or treat the as pariahs.
Like others, I also find it sad that some folks jump to conclusions of guilt by association or group membership or whatever. Almost all people who look "middle eastern" or "muslim" are decent human beings who would neither harm someone nor condone it. Almost all people who have one person in their family who goes off and hurts people are also decent and condemn such actions. And an amazing number of people who are arrested are either not charged or are found not guilty. Accordingly, I reserve judgment until some actual facts are known.
Good luck on the media circus that I am sure your neighborhood will resemble at times. Keep up posted.
Some of us are "too busy" to take time to meet our neighbors. Sometimes, our neighbors, regardless of nationality, put on false fronts. Sometimes, we find our neighbors to be outstanding citizens we feel honored to call our friend.
Those who seek to do this country ill generally have been indoctrinated from the time they were being nursed that the United States is the Great Satan and does not deserve to survive.
Laura has set an example for all of us to follow. The more we can induce others to open their eyes and appreciate the freedoms we have in the USA, the less we have to worry about our neighbors. No matter which side of the aisle you prefer, together in our communities we must extend ourselves to demonstrate that we are not Satanic. Well, at least the vast majority of us aren't.
I would be more likely to have him call and see how the friend is and than set up a meeting to hang out after the news frenzy dies down.
There is much propaganda in the world about terrorists and terrorism. Who are the real ones? still a question to be answered.
Thank you for sharing and bless you for not being a racist
love and light
First, when the shooter at V. Tec. killed all those people, I never once heard him called a terrorist. I also never heard Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols referred to as Terrorists. Not once did I hear the Unabomber referred to as a terrorist. And no one suggested arresting their families because, as Rob put it (Thanks Rob!), with one bomber or shooter in the house."...you never know what's going through the minds of the others because you're not familiar with them as people." The government actually does have a definition of terrorism, but you could apply it to a lot murderers. But, we seem to save the "terrorist label" for foreigners.
The other point I wanted to make was that if the police actually did investigate these folks for 16 months, they probably a) Knew the movements of the Agron well enough that they could have nabbed him outside the home and b) knew that the rest of the family members were not involved. It was a scare tactic, most likely, to make sure that the rest of the family didn't decide to do anything like what Agron was into.
Okay, one more point I thought of. What will the children growing up in Iraq be like in 10-15 years? Growing up in the horror that their home has become, are some of them developing into tomorrow's "terrorists?"
Your actions have renewed my belief that far from all Americans are unthinking, bloodthirsty people out to revenge the unbelievable horror of 9/11 at all costs.
I lean on the side of suspecting the arrest rather than suspecting the person arrested.... especially when they go shouting Terrorist to the hilltops.
and I believe no last name make you a terrorist , we should not blindly trust anyone in today's situation and better be safe , but then anyone can be a potential threat to our lives .
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/238452/american_terror_plots_foiled.html?page=2&post=true&
Yours attitude is worthy of praise.
The Press can be relentless and rude when they are after a story. They are Barracudas!
This is GOOD HEART WORK, Laura.
But as any Japanese American living in the WWII era can attest, guilty by association, guilty by ethnicity, guilty by suspicion is NOT how our legal system works.
This isn't "Minority Report," in which those who haven't killed but will in the future are ferreted out with the use of psychics. We don't have that gift, so we can't apply that remedy either.
As any family member of a convicted criminal will attest, the sins of the guilty often create punishment for the innocent too. I hope that we Americans are better than that, and allow all people to choose their destinies, and reap the rewards or pay the consequences, based upon those decisions.
You have very good sense. Too bad more people don't. :-)
It is interesting to read the comments from others about how "terrifying" or "horrifying" this whole ordeal is.
I have to shake my head and sigh.
To a jihadist, this is a most noble effort. There is no greater glory, for them, than to praise Allah through their efforts - those "efforts" being to kill as many infidels as possible, preferably whilst killing oneself in the "ultimate sacrifice".
To Americans, this is indeed horrifying. And you will never be able to "wrap your head around" the concept of jihad, until you are willing to accept these facts.
IF the offenders are found guilty of the crimes, there is not a punishment harsh enough, IMO. However, I think a long term in a max security prison - as part of the general population - should give these people a real good taste of hell on Earth.
Let's see how eager they are for martyrdom after that.
Is this going to be another case of 'create a terrorist cell and they will come' type of 'honeypotting' the authorities have been doing to build hysteria?
I won't condemn that kid as a terrorist until the government proves in a court of law that he was - oh, how unfortunate that dubya has decided that anyone accused of terrorism - including US citizens - won't get a proper trial. I guess I'll just have to go with their say-so.
Call me cynical ;)
Once in U.S. history an episode of Islamic terrorism was very quickly stopped. It happened in the Philippines about 1911, when Gen. "Black" Jack Pershing was in command of the garrison. There had been numerous Islamic terrorist attacks, so "Black Jack" told his boys to catch the perps and teach them a lesson.
They caught 50 terrorists
Forced to dig their own graves, the terrorists were all tied to posts, execution style. The U.S. soldiers then brought in pigs and slaughtered them, rubbing their bullets in the blood and fat. Thus, the terrorists were terrorized; they saw that they would be contaminated with hogs' blood before they died. This would mean that they could not enter Heaven, even if they died as terrorist martyrs.
All but one was shot, their bodies dumped into the grave, and the hog guts dumped atop the bodies. The lone survivor was allowed to escape back to the terrorist camp and tell his brethren what happened to the others. This brought a stop to terrorism in the Philippines for the next +50 years.
Pointing a gun into the face of Islamic terrorists won't make them flinch let alone shake.
They welcome the chance to die for Allah. Like Gen. Pershing, we must show them that they won't get to Muslim heaven (which they believe has an endless supply of virgins) but instead will die with the hated pigs of the devil.
America has the capacity to be the most loving and accepting nation on the Earth. We can also be the most heartless and evil SOB's God ever created.
"fight fire with fire"
Sometimes the only way to fight evil is with evil.
NOT ALL MUSLIMS ARE TERRORIST -- ALL TERRORIST ARE MUSLIM. ALSO MANY OF THEIR LEADERS PREACH DEATH AND VIOLENCE. THEY RECRUIT YOUNG CHILDREN INTO TERRORISM. NON-TERRORIST MUSLIMS DO NOT SPEAK AGAINST TERRORIST FOR THE MOST PART. THE RELIGION IS SPREAD BY THE SWORD, AS IT HAS BEEN FOR CENTURIES.
I HOPE YOU AND THE REST OF YOUR READERS HAVE REALIZED THAT THE WAR IS NOT JUST IN IRAQ AND THE MIDDLE EAST. IT'S HERE IN THE U.S, JUST AS THIS STORY SUPPORTS.
REMEMBER 9/11 ? DID THE JAPANESE OR GERMANS CAUSE NEARLY AS MUCH DAMAGE ON U.S. SOIL PRIOR OR DURING WORLD WAR II ?
THE JIHADIST HAVE BROUGHT THIS WAR TO US.. WE DIDN'T INVOKE IT, THEY WANT TO TAKE OVER OUR COUNTRY, AND WAY OF LIFE.
WE WILL PREVAIL AGAINST THEIR EVIL INTENT.
GOD BLESS THE U.S. AND OUR SOLDIERS.
http://www.nationalledger.com/artman/publish/article_272613204.shtml
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islam
I am not going to spend time with the comments - I am glad you (and your son) were able to deflect the negativity of the neighbors.
I am glad your son understands what being a good friend is all about.
War is H***
I don't know if I would have been as brave as you or your son. I hate to admit it, but I would still have reservations about the family. Didn't they see the anger or something in their son/brother?
Recently, my BF and I have been talking about little acts of bad behaviour, rudeness, addictions, etc. of children that the parents have either taught their children, not corrected, or not even noticed. We came to the conclusion that we think that it is the parents responsibility to correct or stop these things before they start. Although, the above is a much bigger threat than simple manners and such, wouldn't a responsible parent have seen something? Or am I being naive, because I don't have children? My BF has three adult childen though.
As far as letting your son go and visit his friend, unless you know the rest of the family I would be cautious. Not saying that the rest of the family is like the son. I would want to know how the rest of the family feels and where they stand on the issue. Oviously they don't like what has happened to thier son, but do they see and understand why he was arrested?
These kids were funded some how inorder to buy these wepons and the things they needed to carry this out. What I want to know is where did they get the money and why did they want to do this?
I would love to us "stand up" to them like Tom says but can you just imagine how many people would cry "crule and unusual punishment" and "inhumane".
Just my thoughts, what do I know, I'm just a mom in the middle of no where.
The fact is, there are undoubtedly several sleeper cells already in this country, and with 3,000 illegal aliens pouring in every day, probably many more to come.
I'm glad to see that your reaction was so mature and rational, Laura. If only the entire nation were of the same mindset as you.
I can't say that I've ever known an Islamic terrorist. I've known someone who committed armed robbery, someone who murdered his entire family and himself, and a pedophile, but never an Islamic terrorist. Must be a rather shocking revelation.