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Caribbean terror overview
There's no shortage of questions surrounding the disrupted plot to blow up fuel pipelines at John F. Kennedy International Airport. Among the most pressing: what sort of jihadist organization would operate in the Carribean, where radicalized Muslims are comparatively few? According to a 2005 analysis by the Jamestown Foundation, not the most advanced.
Press accounts have Russell Defreitas, the laid-off JFK employee and key figure in the plot, seeking aid from Jamaat al-Muslimeen, a Muslim organization in Trinidad and Tobago. The JAM, which engineered a failed coup in 1990, apparently declined to assist Defreitas and his alleged co-conspirators. Jamestown's profile makes that choice more understandable, suggesting that JAM is more of a criminal enterprise than a source of jihadist legitimation:
In many respects, the Jammat al-Muslimeen’s ideology and rhetoric mirror that of militant Black ethno-nationalist movements, including the most radical fringes of the Nation of Islam. Abu Bakr’s supporters see him as a hero fighting for social justice. Interestingly, although most Trinidadians did not support his 1990 coup attempt, many at the time agreed with the issues raised by the Jammat during the crisis, especially impoverished Afro-Trinidadians. At the same time, the Jammat is seen by many locally as a well organized criminal empire involved in everything from drug smuggling, money laundering, kidnapping for ransom, and extortion, with Abu Bakr running the show [8]. Abu Bakr has since been the target of a series of criminal investigations and indictments for his alleged role in ordering the murders of former Jammat members.
Chris Zambelis, who wrote the 2005 analysis for Jamestown, a respected D.C. terrorism think tank, assesses that the real value of the Caribbean for a jihadist organization is as a transit point for moving money or revenue-raising contraband. In another overview, this one written in 2006, Zambelis checked in on Guyana, Defreitas's country of origin:
It is important to note that there is no substantive evidence to date pointing to a nascent radical threat in Guyana. Guyana did make headlines, however, when local sources reported sightings of Adnan G. El Shukrijumah in the region in 2003, a known al-Qaeda operative whose whereabouts remain unknown. Many believe that Shukrijumah was born in Saudi Arabia to a Guyanese father and a Saudi mother, although some sources report that he was born in Guyana (Guyana Chronicle, March 26, 2003). U.S. and regional security and intelligence officials believe that Shukrijumah may have used a Guyanese passport to pass through one or both countries and elsewhere in the region as well (Guyana Chronicle, August 2003). ...Despite a lack of hard evidence implicating extremist elements operating in Guyana, many observers worry that radical ideologies will find resonance among Guyanese Muslims and others in the region. In many respects, these concerns mirror growing fears of al-Qaeda's ability to inspire Muslims and potentially others across the globe to its cause. By all accounts, the potential threat of radicalism in Guyana should be seen in this context and not as a unique case. Nevertheless, Guyana's porous borders and growing problem with violent crime remain a concern, especially as its security and intelligence capabilities are overwhelmed, thus presenting a potential opening for radical Islamists to gain a foothold.
Expect a lot more scrutiny of radical Islam in the Caribbean as the JFK case unfolds.
Comments (13)
Professor Foland wrote on June 4, 2007 12:01 PM:The comment in Newsday, that the Caribbean is a growing threat, seemed to me a piece of self-aggrandizing puffery, a police official trying to make his beat sound really important. It didn't sound like the rational beginnings of a new policy focus.
Tom Simon wrote on June 4, 2007 12:05 PM:This whole JFK thing seems to me a manufactured diversion from really important issues like the illegal acts now beng uncovered within this sorry Bush adminstration.
bobh wrote on June 4, 2007 12:05 PM:The Carribean. We HAVE a policy focus down there?
Our country has done nothing but shit on the C during my lifetime.
nffcnnr wrote on June 4, 2007 12:25 PM:As long as everyone is still calling this a "foiled terrorist plot" why aren't any of the candidates pointing to this as an example of how fighting terrorism should be more of a policing/investigating matter, rather than a "war on terror"? i think John Edwards missed an opportunity Sunday nite to bolster the notion that the phrase "war on terror" is a misnomer that hinders our thinking about how to actually stop terrorism.
Anonymous wrote on June 4, 2007 12:25 PM:Let's see... The Carribean is affected by:
-Grinding poverty
-High unemployment
-Lack of natural resources
-Corrupt governments
-Influence of drug trade from S America to the US
Add in the history of US antagonism/interventionalism in the region (Grenada, Cuba) and the significant oil trade in Trinidad and Tobago.
A cynic would say that the Carribean is now a "threat" because T&T would certainly be a nice oil spigot for the US to control.
Others would recognize that indeed the seeds are sewn for some "failed states" to develop in the Carribean, which in turn become open doors to all sorts of illicit activity.
The Buffalo In Da' Midst wrote on June 4, 2007 12:28 PM:Bobh: The Carribean. We HAVE a policy focus down there?
Yes, government destabilization
Anonymous wrote on June 4, 2007 12:30 PM:The US's failure to adequately fund aid to the various Carribean nations that virtually sit in the "backyard" of course has contributed to the poverty of those countries that can lead to "failed states."
Heck, even China realizes this. They've got police officers in Haiti. The US? Not so much.
EH wrote on June 4, 2007 12:41 PM:Is it becoming apparent that "terrorist threat" is a slang term for "has less restrictive financial and immigration laws?" That is, any place that has more freedom is a threat.
Jon-Erik G. Storm wrote on June 4, 2007 12:47 PM:I think you have to consider this in the context of Castro's failing health as well. We need an excuse to move in on post-(Fidel) Castro Cuba. This is it.
Rice was in Spain meeting on this last week.
ed wrote on June 4, 2007 2:10 PM:http://elmundo.es/elmundo/2007/06/01/espana/1180706492.html
First, it's "Caribbean", with one R and two Bs. Sorry, it's kind of a pet peeve.
Second, I don't know much about the situation in Guyana, but I can say that there isn't much of a terrorist threat in Trindad. The JAM, is, as the post indicates, mostly a criminal cartel with a small social justice/welfare arm. The coup attempt in 1990 was a glorified hostage crisis. Moreover, the organization only has a couple of hundred members. These guys aren't bent on world domination, and they certainly aren't bent on having the FBI come in and spoil everything, so I wouldn't worry much. Otherwise, there's very little radical Islam in the country, as most Muslims are the descendants of Indians who came over 100+ years ago and have few links with broader Muslim grievances.
Third, to the comments about the US moving in to take control of the oil, I wouldn't put on a tinfoil hat just yet. The oil and gas in Trinidad is already very much in British and American hands. The government is quite pro-American as it is, going out of its way to demonstrate its distaste for the goings on in neighbouring Venezuela. There's not much need for an invasion, thanks.
So let's not make it hard for me to finally get my green card just yet, eh?
steve wrote on June 4, 2007 2:14 PM:Drugs, arms, oil, smuggling, cash transactions, deception. Hmm, Why does that ring a bell? Anyone remember Iran Contra? Anyone know who Elliot Abrams is? Is it a coincidence that we invaded Afghanistan the year after the Taliban had driven opiate production to zero? Just asking. Ask Sibel Edmonds, too. Google al Quaeda and diamonds. Have some fun; connect some dots.
And sometimes a disgruntled former employee is nothing more than that. Even when they fantasize about getting even.
lll wrote on June 4, 2007 2:38 PM:speaking of dots....
Ian wrote on June 4, 2007 4:39 PM:the airline that defreitas supposedly worked for at JFK was evergreen, a well-known CIA front.
add that to your close attention to the drug piece of this puzzle, as well as the fact that the admin - not even gonzo! - have jumped on this incident as they normally would have, and voila! you have what looks for all the world like a really messy bit of blowback.
for the BEST in-depth on all this, check out
http://cannonfire.blogspot.com/2007/06/more-on-jfk-airport-terror-plot.html
http://cannonfire.blogspot.com/2007/06/terror-plot-suspect-worked-for-cias.html
Don't be too quick to dismiss the Jamaat al Muslimeen (or too quick to quote a source that can't even spell the name right). In 1990 they were able to hold Parliament hostage for 6 days. Both the ruling Peoples' National Movement and the opposition United National Congress depended on the Jamaat to win elections - in the last election there were a lot of rumours about the PNM using Jamaat enforcers to intimidate UNC supporters. Sure, they appear to be linked to the drug trade and kidnapping for profit, but they also received military training from Libya and Sudan in the 80s and 90s.
Trinidad and Tobago has a long strategic relationship with the US - primarily because of oil, but it is also a major exporter of petrochemicals, fertilizer (one of the top exporters of ammonia), and Liquified Natural Gas to the US. It also exports steel to the US, and recently has begin to export fuel-grade ethanol. Direct US investment in Trinidad and Tobago is high. Trinidad and Tobago is also a major link in the cocaine trade (the border with Venezuela is porous).