The FBI is preparing for the outbreak of hostilities with Iran. They have been for quite a while.
Like Hansel and Gretel hoping to follow their bread crumbs out of the forest, the FBI sifted through customer data collected by San Francisco-area grocery stores in 2005 and 2006, hoping that sales records of Middle Eastern food would lead to Iranian terrorists.
The idea was that a spike in, say, falafel sales, combined with other data, would lead to Iranian secret agents. A similar project was aimed at Sunni Arabs in the Washington, D.C., area.
The brainchild of top FBI counterterrorism officials Phil Mudd and Willie T. Hulon, according to well-informed sources, the project didn’t last long. It was torpedoed by the head of the FBI’s criminal investigations division, Michael A. Mason, who argued that putting somebody on a terrorist list for what they ate was ridiculous — and possibly illegal.
A check of federal court records in California did not reveal any prosecutions developed from falafel trails.
I pay for all my middle eastern groceries in cash, so I guess I don’t have anything to worry about.
As ridiculous as it sounds, the groceries counting scheme is a measure of how desperate the FBI is to disrupt domestic terrorism plots.
The possibility of Iranian-sponsored terrorism in the United States has drawn major attention from the FBI because of rising tensions between Washington and Tehran over Iran’s nuclear program.
“Because of the heightened difficulties surrounding U.S.-Iranian relations, the FBI has increased its focus on Hezbollah,” Bresson said 16 months ago. “Those investigations relate particularly to the potential presence of Hezbollah members on U.S. soil.”
You might think the FBI is off base, but the Intelligence Community says there is a risk.
Last July’s National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) on terrorism trends addressed the potential for Iranian subversion here in such cautionary terms that it was rendered useless.
“We assess [Iran-backed] Lebanese Hezbollah, which has conducted anti-U.S. attacks outside the United States in the past, may be more likely to consider attacking the Homeland over the next three years if it perceives the United States as posing a direct threat to the group or Iran,” the [NIE] said. (Italics added.)
Based on that information, the FBI is correct to be concerned. We are, after all, posing a direct threat to Iran.
Good to know that the FBI is all over the falafel supply. After reading and re-reading the Sibel Edmonds articles, falafel is apprently all the FBI has got.
Oh, and….
JESUS H CHRIST I WISH THEY WOULD QUIT CALLING THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA THE “HOMELAND” FOR FUCK’S SAKE. I swear to the fsm I’m gonna goddamned lose it.
Does anyone else have visions of the Ark of the Covenant ceremony from “Raiders of the Lost Ark” going on in the basement of the white house? All we need is Lilly von Schtupp and it will be complete.
I was wondering why there were elephant footprints in my hummus the other day… Must’ve been some bush league spies that forgot to cover their tracks.
He are, after all, posing a direct threat to Iran.
I think you want to say ‘We are, after all,…’
You’re of course right. I wonder if the Iranians are as likely to conduct preemptive attacks as the US? (/sn)
After all, they have not conducted an aggressive war since the early days of the Safavid Empire.
OMG, we’ve been having our Draft Gore meetings in the Pyramid Cafe! People have been eating falafel, merguez and even the occasional baba ganoush! I’ve been associating with terrorists and never knew it!
I’d better shower to cleanse myself. Wait a minute, I need a new loofah. Maybe the FBI is stalking terrorists at the Bath and Body store. I’d better steer clear.
I wonder if they have ever considered, even once, which is the cart and which is the horse.
30 years ago as a budding Republican intersted in politics a senior FBI agent recruited me to be a delegate. His outlook on the government even at that time was wholly pessimistic.
I sincerly hope they keep up these extremist attutiudes as it’s doing great things in waking up the zombified masses.
In the Nature House we buy our middle easter yummies by the pound at least weekly and I’ve been known to complain at the local grocery store that their pita is horrible and can’t they get anything better?….that and the regrettable incident at the United Church of Christ involving myself and a lighted peace candle; I’m sure they’re on my tail now.
That’s it! No more cous-cous for my family!
We are their victims. Association does not equal support.
Well I just hope to hell that Mexican and Oriental food doesn’t become the next indication of terrorist enclaves here or I’ll be gone by like tomorrow. Or is there some incremental for eating ‘terrist’ food..like if you only spend a third of your money on terrist groceries than you’re not a terrist but just have an enlightened palate or what?
Or hey maybe stores that sell ethnic food should just be shut down and then all the terrists will have to go home cause they have nothing to eat. Feeding them over there so we don’t have to feed them here.
Don’t blame me if I sound stupid, I always lose iq points when I read shit like this.
It’s enough to make me want to go find an Iranian cuisine cookbook….
The FBI used to be able to, you know, develop intelligence sources by TALKING to people… we used to be able to get good intelligence because people who knew things of significance would want to talk to us…
But now, the US has made it very clear we can’t be trusted. The Bush Administration doesn’t care about the truth. They don’t want facts. They want to punish people captured almost at random, or as the result of someone else’s spite turning them in, on the wild, implausible chance they can be forced to say something to back up policies. They don’t even want truth from their own agents — and they will betray and destroy their own agents to make sure they get only the “intelligence” they want.
So now they are reduced to analyzing grocery bills — and no doubt cursing the fact that ethnic foods are popular with more than just the original ethnic group that introduced them to the American grocery market.
But I guess it keeps the FBI too busy to go after, say, crooked politicians (from the wrong party), or corporate crime, or anything else that might make this Administration look even more incompetent and malfeasant than they already do….
First of all, falafel is not a Persian food, never was. It is in most Israeli deli/bistros and of course, Arabic cafes. There is no similarities between Arabs and Iranians other than the fact their nation is plunked in the Middle East. Their style of cooking is closer to Asian than any other.
The name IRAN is a Greek word for ARYAN…for the obvious reasons. Linking Arab/Iranian is as stupid as saying Chinese and Russians are the same simply because they are on the same continent.
Secondly, the Iranian’s have not attacked anyone in FIVE CENTURIES, even though Western nations have occupied and pillaged theirs repeatedly. Even when Bush the First blew up one of their civilian planes in Iranian airspace in 1988 — the Iranians still did not retaliate/attack anyone.
Thirdly: if you want to find the Iranians, try Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Ave, Mercedes and BMW dealerships spending their hard earned money via being a highly educated valued and desired in our and the global work force.