Mubarak Hamed, 53, of Columbia, a naturalized U.S. citizen originally from Sudan, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Nanette K. Laughrey today to three charges contained in a Jan. 16, 2008, federal indictment.

“This defendant used a Missouri charity to violate the United States’ economic sanctions against Iraq,” U.S. Attorney Phillips said. “Hamed compromised national security by secretly funneling more than a million dollars to Iraq.”

Hamed was the Executive Director of the Islamic American Relief Agency (IARA), an Islamic charitable organization formed in 1985 and headquartered in Columbia. IARA, formerly known as the Islamic African Relief Agency-United States Affiliate, was the U.S. branch office of a global network headquartered in Khartoum, Sudan, known as the Islamic Relief Agency, or ISRA. The IARA was closed in October 2004, after being identified by the U.S. Treasury Department as a specially designated global terrorist organization because the international offices of ISRA provided financial support for Osama bin Laden, Al-Qaida and the Taliban.

As a charity, IARA took in between $1 million and $3 million in contributions annually from 1991 to 2003. It also received funds from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). During Hamed’s tenure, IARA employed approximately six full-time employees, and an additional 10-12 part-time employees.

Hamed and IARA solicited charitable contributions throughout the United States, and then illegally transferred funds to Iraq with the assistance of a Sudanese man living in Jordan, who was subsequently identified by the U.S. Treasury Department as a specially designated global terrorist. Hamed admitted that he regularly wired funds to this person. Hamed admitted that he sent 11 separate wire transfers totaling $434,376 between December 1999 and August 2002, as charged in the federal indictment, as well as many similar uncharged transactions. The government believes the total amount Hamed transferred to Iraq was approximately $1.2 million.

In addition to the conspiracy, the specific charge to which Hamed pleaded guilty today involved the Dec. 18, 2001, transfer of $40,974 from the IARA bank account to a bank account in Jordan, which was intended to go to persons in Iraq.

Under the authority granted by the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, former President George H.W. Bush issued an Executive Order on Aug. 2, 1990, which declared a national emergency with respect to Iraq. The Secretary of Treasury issued the Iraqi Sanctions Regulations, which prohibited unauthorized transfer of money or goods to Iraq by U.S. persons, including organizations and lawful permanent resident aliens. Neither IARA nor Hamed ever received authority from the U.S. government to transfer money to Iraq for any purpose.

In pleading guilty, Hamed admitted that he conspired with others and violated the federal sanctions that were then in place regarding Iraq. Hamed also admitted that he impaired and impeded the administration of the Internal Revenue laws by misusing IARA’s tax-exempt status, providing false information to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), and lying to federal agents.

Under federal statutes, Hamed is subject to a sentence of up to 20 years in federal prison without parole, plus a fine of up to $1.5 million. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled after the completion of a pre-sentence investigation by the U.S. Probation Office.

Hamed is the third defendant to plead guilty in this case.

Co-defendant Ali Mohamed Bagegni, 56, a native of Libya who is a naturalized U.S. citizen and former resident of Columbia, pleaded guilty on April 6, 2010, to his role in the conspiracy. Bagegni was a member of the board of directors of IARA. Co-defendant Ahmad Mustafa, 57, of Columbia, a citizen of Iraq and a lawful permanent resident alien of the United States, pleaded guilty on Dec. 17, 2009, to illegally transferring funds to Iraq in violation of federal sanctions. Mustafa worked as a fund-raiser for IARA and traveled throughout the United States soliciting charitable contributions. Further, in 1999, 2000 and 2001, Mustafa traveled to Iraq on IARA business. In early 2001, he visited cities throughout Northern Iraq for several weeks and met with numerous officials to discuss the process of opening an IARA office in Iraq. Among the officials with whom Mustafa met was Hushyar Zibari, who was at the time a leader in the Patriotic Democratic Party of Kurdistan and is currently the foreign minister of Iraq. Mustafa also looked to find a building suitable for an IARA office in the Kurdish provinces of Iraq.

Shahzad, 30, a naturalized U.S. citizen born in Pakistan, son of a Pakistani Air force officer,was taken into custody at John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK Airport) on May 3, 2010, after he was identified by the Department of Homeland Security’s U.S. Customs and Border Protection while attempting to leave the United States on a commercial flight to Dubai. Shahzad was then charged in a five-count criminal complaint. On May 18, 2010, he was presented in Manhattan federal court before U.S. Magistrate Judge James C. Francis IV. Last week, on June 17, 2010, Shahzad was indicted in the Southern District of New York.

“Faisal Shahzad plotted and launched an attack that could have led to serious loss of life, and today the American criminal justice system ensured that he will pay the price for his actions,” Attorney General Eric Holder said. “We will not rest in bringing to justice terrorists who seek to harm the American people, and we will use every tool available to the government to do so.”

“This investigation included a combination of traditional law enforcement techniques and intelligence-based authorities, with men and women from a number of agencies working side-by-side in support of a common goal,” said FBI Director Robert S. Mueller.

U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said that there is no plea agreement between the government and Shahzad, and that the investigation is continuing. Shahzad is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Cedarbaum on Oct. 5, 2010, at 10 a.m.

According to the indictment to which Shahzad pleaded guilty, statements made during today’s proceeding, and the criminal complaint filed in Manhattan federal court:

In December 2009, Shahzad received explosives training in Waziristan, Pakistan, from explosive trainers affiliated with Tehrik-e-Taliban, a militant extremist group based in Pakistan. On Feb. 25, 2010, Shahzad received approximately $5,000 in cash in Massachusetts sent from a co-conspirator (CC-1) in Pakistan whom Shahzad understood worked for Tehrik-e-Taliban. Approximately six weeks later, on April 10, 2010, Shahzad received an additional $7,000 in cash in Ronkonkoma, N.Y., which was also sent at CC-1′s direction.

On March 15, 2010, Shahzad purchased a semi-automatic 9 millimeter Kel-Tec rifle in Connecticut. This rifle was found, loaded, in Shahzad’s car on the day of his arrest.

In April 2010, Shahzad contacted the seller of a Nissan Pathfinder after seeing an advertisement posted on a website. Thereafter, on April 24, 2010, Shahzad and the seller of the Pathfinder agreed to meet in a supermarket parking lot in Connecticut, where Shahzad paid the seller $1,300 for the Pathfinder. In April 2010, Shahzad also purchased components for the improvised explosive and incendiary devices that he loaded into the Pathfinder on May 1, 2010.

On May 1, 2010, Shahzad drove the Pathfinder, loaded with the improvised explosive and incendiary devices, to Manhattan and parked the Pathfinder in Times Square in the vicinity of 45th Street and Seventh Avenue. After parking the Pathfinder, Shahzad attempted to begin the detonation process of the improvised explosive and incendiary devices. Thereafter, Shahzad abandoned the Pathfinder and returned to his residence in Connecticut.

On May 3, 2010, Shahzad drove from Connecticut to JFK Airport as he attempted to flee to Dubai. He was arrested later that same day at JFK Airport. After his arrest, Shahzad admitted that he had recently received bomb-making training in Pakistan. He also admitted that he had brought the Pathfinder to Times Square and attempted to detonate it.

The research is based on data from the Center’s Global Terrorism Database (GTD), the world’s most comprehensive, unclassified collection of terror incidents.

“Explosives are by far the weapon of choice for terrorists in New York City,” says Gary LaFree, who directs START and who orchestrated creation of the GTD. “Of all terror attacks in New York City from 1970 to 2007, 70 percent involved bombs or explosives.”

La Free adds that “Car bombs have played a small but deadly role in U.S. terrorism.” Of the ten terrorist car bomb attacks in the U.S., six have taken place in New York City. The most costly in the city involved the 1993 truck bomb attack on the World Trade Center, which killed six and injured a thousand people.

“While al-Qaeda has launched the deadliest attacks on New York City targets, almost 40 other identified groups engaged in terrorism in this city from 1970 to 2007, representing a range of different ideologies, backgrounds and goals, with changing actors over time,” the report says.

Puerto Rican separatists, the Jewish Defense League and an anti-Castro group were the most active in the 1970s, with their attacks tapering off through the 1980s.

Since this plot was first uncovered on Saturday night, the FBI, prosecutors and intelligence lawyers in the National Security Division of the Justice Department and the U.S. Attorneys Offices in Manhattan and Connecticut, along with the NYPD have worked night and day to find out who was responsible for what would have been a deadly attack had it been successful. Over the course of the day today, we have gathered significant additional evidence that led to tonight’s arrest, which was made by agents from Department of Homeland Security’s Customs and Border Protection.

This investigation is ongoing, as are our attempts to gather useful intelligence, and we continue to pursue a number of leads. But it’s clear that the intent behind this terrorist act was to kill Americans.

FBI agents are working with their state and local counterparts in New York, Connecticut and other jurisdictions to gather evidence and intelligence related to this case. We are also coordinating with other members of the President’s national security team to ensure we use every resource available to the United States to bring anyone responsible to justice.

We continue to gather leads in this investigation, and it’s important that the American people remain vigilant. The vehicle in Times Square was first noticed on Saturday by a citizen who reported it to authorities, and, as always, any American who notices suspicious activity should report it to the appropriate law enforcement agencies.

This investigation is ongoing, it is multi-faceted, and it is aggressive. As we move forward, we will focus on not just holding those responsible for it accountable, but also on obtaining any intelligence about terrorist organizations overseas.

“There’s something I’ve often said about government, but it applies to every organization,” said Director Panetta. “We govern either by leadership or by crisis. Leadership means making tough choices and planning ahead. That’s why we’re taking a hard look at future challenges, and what we want our Agency to look like five years from now. It’s our responsibility to get out in front of any problems, and CIA 2015 will help us do that.”

Director Panetta outlined CIA 2015’s three pillars. The first is investing in people. The CIA will recruit, train, and retain a highly talented and diverse workforce with the strengths to tackle any mission that arises. Bolstering the Agency’s foreign language capabilities is essential to that objective. The plan doubles the number of clandestine officers—and triples the number of analysts—enrolled in language training.

The CIA will enhance its use of more flexible and innovative deployments overseas—including new approaches to cover—paving the way for even better intelligence collection. More co-location of analysts and operators at home and abroad will both enrich the information provided to policymakers and lead to even more operational success in the field. This sort of fusion has more than proved its value over the years, and has been key to victories in counterterrorism and counterproliferation, among other disciplines.

The second pillar is investing in technology to extend the CIA’s operational and analytic reach and become more efficient. Agency personnel must be able to operate effectively and securely in a rapidly changing global information environment. The plan boosts the CIA’s potential for human-enabled technical collection and provides advanced software tools to help Agency officers tackle the huge volume of data they encounter in their work.

The third pillar is to achieve a new level of agility in maintaining the Agency’s global presence and surging for emergencies. The Agency will transform its support platforms around the world and consolidate certain business functions. Director Panetta commended the Agency’s tradition of minimal bureaucracy, a key ingredient in its responsiveness and impact. “When we’re told to get a job done, we can do it,” he said. “But we can’t take anything for granted. As good as we are, we can be better. As capable as we are, we can do more. As smart as we are, we can be tougher.”

He closed by paying tribute to the men and women of the CIA. Noting the bravery that Agency officers so often show—including in situations overseas like natural disasters that go beyond their intelligence charter—Director Panetta said, “You reflect not only America’s strength, but its ingenuity and decency, too.”

“During the course of my career, I’ve come to appreciate the people who truly focus on doing what’s right for the nation. I’m honored to lead this Agency and to be part of its amazing mission. My goal is to build on the strengths of the CIA and keep it the very best intelligence agency in the 21st century. Every generation has dedicated itself to the American dream of giving our children a better life. The test of our success is whether we can give our children a safer world.”

“Over the past week, Congress held three public hearings on missile defense plans for 2011 and beyond. Hearings were held by the Strategic Forces Subcommittee of the House Armed Services Committee, the Senate Armed Service Committee led by Chairman Carl Levin (D-MI) and the Ranking Member John McCain (R-AZ) on Tuesday and most recently the Defense Subcommittee of the Senate Appropriations Committee led by the Chairman Daniel Inouye (D-HI) on Wednesday.

“During these hearings, the testimony of President Barack Obama’s appointees in the Department of Defense and the Director of the Missile Defense Agency, Lt. Gen. Patrick O’Reilly, exposed five fundamental elements of the administration’s missile defense plan:

1. Iran, with foreign assistance (North Korea), could have the ability to strike the U.S. homeland with an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) by 2015.

2. In the current administration’s plan, the Phased Adaptive Approach (PAA), there will be a second shot capability based in Europe to defend the U.S. homeland from an Iranian ICBM in 2020. This is dependent on the development, testing and deployment, of a new SM-3 Block 2B missile and the integration that allows for early intercept by launch and engage on remote sensors including basing Aegis Ashore platforms in Europe.

3. The administration’s current missile defense plan for the defense of the U.S. homeland is to rely on 30 Ground-Based Interceptors (GBI’s), 26 based in Alaska and 4 in California until 2032. They would provide protection against a maximum of 15 incoming ICBMs, using two GBIs per ICBM with a shoot, look, and shoot doctrine. Due to distance, parts of Eastern United States will not have the same confidence of protection as the remaining U.S. Homeland from an ICBM threat from Iran.

4. There is a gap of protection and vulnerability against an ICBM launched from Iran at the U.S. homeland, especially to significant parts of the east coast, for a minimum of 5 years in the President’s plan for missile defense, provided that Iran acquires ICBM capability by 2015.

5. In regards to a hedge for the existent gap in protection from an ICBM attack from Iran against the U.S. homeland, Lt. Gen. Patrick O’Reilly presented three options:
* Fully outfitting missile field 2 in Fort Greely, Alaska with GBIs adding 8 more GBIs to the existing 30 GBIs,
* Testing the two-stage GBI, the missile in June of this year, the same missile system intended to be deployed in Poland for the canceled 3rd site of the previous administration.
* Having additional shot opportunities, against an ICBM from Iran, with two-stage missiles.

“The recent Congressional hearings on missile defense have made it abundantly clear to the American public that a gap exists in the missile protection of the U.S. homeland against Iran. It is also apparent that the administration’s plans to develop and deploy a hedge to fill that gap have not adequately been addressed. The administration needs to move forward with urgency for a robust testing and deployment plan of the two-stage GBI on or before 2015 to ensure full protection of the U.S. homeland from Iran.

“The protection of the U.S. homeland from ballistic missiles is the declared and stated number one priority of President Obama’s administration missile defense policy.”

The Russian Federation has made a statement on missile defence. As per the statement, “the Treaty between the Russian Federation and the United States of America on the Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms signed in Prague on April 8, 2010, can operate and be viable only if the United States of America refrains from developing its missile defence capabilities quantitatively or qualitatively. Consequently, the exceptional circumstances referred to in Article 14 of the Treaty include increasing the capabilities of the United States of America’s missile defence system in such a way that threatens the potential of the strategic nuclear forces of the Russian Federation.”

Signing of Russian-US Treaty on New START

Medvedev will take part in Nuclear Security Summit in Washington, DC (USA), on April 12-13, 2010.

“The interpretation of the treaty’s language and intent in reference to linkage of U.S. missile defense will have considerable influence on the outcome of the Senate and Duma votes; of which 67 out of 100 U.S. Senators are required to ratify the treaty.

“With this in mind, both Presidents will look to release unilateral statements outside of the treaty as well as language in the preamble to the treaty that will appease their legislators on the linkage or non-linkage of U.S. missile defense which may not be in the treaty, but will be regarded as binding by both sides. This diplomatic skill is necessary to achieve a ratified treaty that would unequivocally link missile defense forever to this treaty in intent and interpretation.

“The Russians have concerns that further expansion and development of U.S. missile defense, including President Obama’s Phased Adaptive Approach (PAA) in Europe, is a threat to Russian missile forces both tactical and strategic and could potentially upset the future ‘nuclear balance of terror’ between the two countries.

“For the Americans, any linkage of missile defense in an attempt to limit its capability, development and growth is unacceptable; this includes the PAA as well as existing systems. Any linkage to or limits of missile defense in the treaty are seen as being contrary to U.S. national security and its ability to protect the homeland, troops, force structures overseas and allies from ballistic missiles; as was laid out and directed by President Obama’s Ballistic Missile Defense Review (BMDR) released February 1st. The BMDR further documented that the number of ballistic missiles currently in existence outside of the control of our allies, Russia and China, is 5,900. Limiting our nation’s protection from current and future ballistic missile threats would put American lives and U.S. national security at unacceptable risk; especially with the increasing likelihood of a nuclear Iran and the continuing proliferation of missiles and nuclear technology around the world.

“The American public views Iran, North Korea, emerging terrorist groups and countries that sponsor those groups as the main threat to our national security, not Russia. The American public and war fighter would not dare give up or limit its current and future defensive capability against those existent and emerging threats for a strategic arms control agreement with the Russians; who are not viewed as a current or future threat to the United States.

“As such, the U.S. interpretation of non-linkage to missile defense in the treaty is the direct opposite of the Russians perception.”

Ellison concluded “As the Senate works to understand, interpret and debate the intent of the new START treaty, it is beyond comprehension how it can have two diabolically opposing interpretations of missile defense. The reality of a successfully ratified new treaty outcome will most likely not happen unless we agree to disagree on the linkage of missile defense with Russia.”

The Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration (MARAD) has already begun removing obsolete ships from Suisun Bay for recycling including four ships that have been removed since November 2009 and a fifth that was removed today.

The agreement outlines MARAD’s commitment to remove 20 of the ships that are in the poorest condition prior to Sept. 30, 2012. Before their removal, these ships will be sent to a local dry-dock for cleaning that involves removing marine growth from the underwater hull and removing flaking paint from areas above the water. All other ships at the site will be cleaned of flaking paint within two years and removed from the fleet by Sept. 30, 2017.

Additionally, MARAD will clean the horizontal surfaces of the ships every 90 days to prevent peeling paint from dropping into the water, inspect the ships on a monthly and quarterly basis and collect water runoff samples for testing. No new ships with excess flaking will be admitted to the site.

“This agreement is evidence of the Obama Administration’s pledge to work with our local partners toward a common goal of better protecting the environment,” said U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood.

“The Department of Justice is pleased to have negotiated a resolution of this matter that is good for the environment and a demonstration of effective state and federal cooperation,” said Ignacia S. Moreno, Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division. “All the parties are to be commended for developing a comprehensive program for the management of the Suisun Bay Reserve Fleet.”

“We are following through on our commitment to clean and maintain these vessels in an environmentally sound manner,” said David Matsuda, Acting Administrator of the USDOT’s Maritime Administration, the agency tasked with managing the fleet. “We are moving expeditiously to remove the worst-polluting ships first and diligently moving to clean the rest.”

The Suisun Bay Reserve Fleet Site serves as a reserve of ships for national defense and national emergency purposes. MARAD’s two other fleet storage sites are in James River, Va. and Beaumont, Texas.

Lt. General Ion Mihai Pacepa’s statement reads “Thirty-one years ago I paid with two-death sentences–from Communist Romania–for my desire to break with Marxism and become a citizen of the greatest country on earth. All former Soviet satellites have now ‘defected’ from Marx’s socialism, which had transformed a third of the world into an abysmal 20th century feudalism. Great Britain, Italy, Germany, France and Greece have also abandoned their ruinous experiments with Marx’s socialism.

“Alas, now the virus of Marxism with its fatal governmental takeovers has started infecting our shores. If the Democratic Party has its way, it will transform the United States into a socialist country in all but name. The 2010 elections could prevent that catastrophe from happening.

“I am grateful that Paul Schiffer has decided to run for the U.S. Congress, and I appeal to the people of the 16th Congressional District in Ohio, to vote for him. I know Paul well. I am sure that, once in the U.S. Congress, he will do everything in his power to keep the United States the best and most powerful country on earth.

“Thirty-nine more Paul Shiffers in the 2010 Congress will put an end to the Democratic Party’s dictatorship, and that will restore our country’s place as the beacon of freedom and free market economics that was conceived by her founders–and which it has always been.”

Gen. Pacepa’s book Red Horizons (Regnery 1987) has been published in 27 countries. Pacepa was a top advisor to Nikita Kruschev, Leonid Brezhnev, and Romanian Dictator Nicolae Ceauşescu. In 2007, Pacepa defended Pope Pius XII, exposing how the KGB planted smears against the anti-communist Catholic leader. Pacepa also revealed the KGB’s invention of “liberation theology” to co-opt Christian Churches to espouse communism throughout Latin America.

Congressional Candidate Paul Schiffer has been an expert in foreign affairs, working for a strong America and a safer world for twenty years. That includes his 15 years as a radio talk show host centered in Ohio, where he is now running for Congress. Schiffer, a former Marine, also ran in 2008. In April 2004, Schiffer played a key role in bringing together the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth. Schiffer reported the Iraqi invasion from inside Israel, interviewed freedom fighters from deep inside Iran on the air, and worked with key Iraqi leaders before America’s liberation of Iraq.