A source on politics, war, the Middle East, Arabic poetry, and art.
Monday, March 01, 2010
SLA in the US
A source who does not want to be identified sent me this: "Former members of the SLA have been living comfortably here in Dearborn, Michigan for over a decade (and not just lowly functionaries, but men with blood on their hands - blood of relatives of their neighbors here in US). During the late 1990s a few SLA bigwigs bought homes and sent their wives and children here (of course these are Shiite members of SLA, who have relatives here already). Either they were told by their Israeli masters that the gig was up, or they read the writing on the wall. One notorious member, nicknamed 'Jalbout' never got to enjoy his new home here - after buying a house and sending his family here, he was killed shortly before the 2000 withdrawal. Another notorious member, who for respect for his privacy I will refer to as Mr. X (Kamal F.) had his house raided by local police and the FBI a few weeks ago. Apparently he has been dealing in stolen goods. This character has his house fitted with hi-tech surveillance equipment- apparently to protect him from his not so welcoming neighbors. In fact, when Mr. X first moved into his house he was harrased by many members of the community (he had his house vandalized and people would constanlty drive by and yell threats and insults). It got so bad that agents in dark suits and wing-tip shoes came knocking on the doors of Mr. X's neighbors (true story) and warned them not to bother Mr. X. When harassment continued, the agents showed up again and invited the neighbors to a meeting at a local public library (it was an invitation, with a 'strong recommendation' to attend). At the meeing, the agents were more direct - they informed attendees that Mr. X is a guest of the US government and that he was being looked after by the agency that employed the agents in wing-tipped shoes. The neighbors were basically told 'don't fuck with Mr. X.' Rodents like Mr. X are all over the community. It is widely known they enjoy the protection of US Federal Government and that they are sometimes above the law. It will be very interesting to see how this recent raid plays out. Many in the community are aware of details, however, nothing has been reported in the press (although the FBI does not publicize anything until charges are filed). It will be interesting to see how this plays out."