Not So Surprising

(Update below)

There's a pretty good chance you'll see more of this between now and November.

Seven people were arrested Thursday in connection with the early stages of a plot to attack Chicago's Sears Tower and other buildings in the U.S., including the
FBI office here, a federal law enforcement official said.

As part of the raids related to the arrests, FBI agents swarmed a warehouse in Miami's Liberty City area, using a blowtorch to take off a metal door. A neighbor said the suspects had been sleeping in the warehouse while running what seemed to be a "military boot camp."

The official told The Associated Press the alleged plotters were mainly Americans with no apparent ties to al-Qaida or other foreign terrorist organizations. He spoke on condition of anonymity so as not to pre-empt news conferences planned for Friday in Washington and Miami. [emphasis mine]

Before the wingers grab this and start screaming 9/11!, 9/11!, 9/11! take note these are independents and not Osama's people. I repeat, they are not part of al-Qaeda.

But the wingers will run with this because "this is why tapping our phones is good" or "even non-Arabs can be terrorists" or "we have to spy on Americans too".

The details are sketchy for now, but what I've read tells me chances are this plot was uncovered the way most law enforcement is accomplished... human intel (snitches). Perhaps the neighbors tipped the police because they saw "strange behavior".

Residents living near the warehouse said the men taken into custody described themselves as Muslims and had tried to recruit young people to join their group, which seemed militaristic. [emphasis mine]

Damn I wish they hadn't said they're Muslims. More fuel. And I doubt very much most Muslims would agree these people are true Muslims.

(read more)

Update: Yep, I was right. It was an informant.

The suspects believed they were dealing with an al Qaeda operative but the person was actually a government informant, the sources said.

(read more)