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Training for jihad in Beautiful Alabama...
A training camp linked to Islamic militants has been operating in Alabama, and European law enforcement officials believe Muslim extremists were using it to prepare for a holy war. British authorities also thought that militants from overseas were training in the United States to take advantage of America's gun laws. The looming question for law enforcement is whether there is a connection between the camp and al Qaeda. Well, let's see if it is... An investigation by Britain's Scotland Yard led to the discovery of the camp in Marion, Ala. The facility is called "Ground Zero USA." Pretty dramatic name, but I think it's been used somewhere else... Bullet-riddled police cars and a school bus with mannequin targets are scattered around the property. Inside a huge shed is an equally macabre scene â shot-up mannequins, male and female, in domestic settings, some with red, blood-like stains on them. Pretty obvious what they were practicing. Stupid bastards didn't even bother cleaning up behind them... Ground Zero's operators promised state-of-the-art, world-class training in automatic weapons, urban warfare, SWAT tactics and martial arts, supposedly to fight terror attacks. Marion Police Chief Tony Buford said he became suspicious of the use of police cars and buses as targets. Yeah. That'd ring a bell with me, too. So what'd you do, Tony? "It was rumored that the camp here was used as training site for possible people that were sent here to do bodily harm to Americans," Buford told ABCNEWS. Yeah, we guessed that. What'd you do, Tony? The suspected terror ties of the Alabama camp were unknown until after Sept. 11, when officials in London arrested an accused al Qaeda supporter, Zain-ul-Albidin They changed the subject. Tony didn't do anything... He is charged with operation of a Web site, under the name of Sakina Security, allegedly recruiting Muslims for an Islamic jihad or holy war. He is now on trial in London. The site, since taken down by British authorities, described what seemed to be the Alabama camp, including live-fire exercises at a state-of-the-art shooting range in the United States â something that would not be legal in Britain. The actual owners of camp, who are also British, say it was used primarily to train law enforcement personnel. Officials consider them unwitting accomplices. The camp owners declined to talk to ABCNEWS. Sounds like they're either stupid or complicit. If I were either, I wouldn't want to talk to anyone, either. Posted by: Fred Pruitt 2002-07-25 |
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