'Next Mission, We Shave'

A federal informant testifying in Camden, New Jersey Monday in the trial of the Fort Dix plotters described a “vacation” he took with three brothers, the Dukas, to the Poconos. Besnik Bakalli, a native Albanian in the U.S. illegally, was recruited by the FBI to make friends with the Dukas. His testimony about them is backed up by hours of tapes obtained through the wire Bakalli was wearing.

According to Bakalli, the Poconos vacation turned out to be a jihad training session. (Not the first time a romantic Poconos getaway turned out to be more than was expected).

He said the men talked constantly about Islam, war between the Muslim world and America, guns, and their respect for Osama bin Laden. They also shopped for guns, went to firing ranges and played paintball during the trip. (“Informant: Fort Dix suspects trained for 'jihad'”).

(DU is awaiting comment from Dawud Walid, spokesmen for all Muslims, (e.g., the Dukas), clarifying that the Dukas’ "respect for Osama bin Laden" does not extend to Zawahiri’s “house negro” crack about President-elect Obama, a remark the Dukas reportedly find “deeply disturbing.”)

Defense counsel are attacking the credibility of Bakalli and another paid informant because they’re receiving consideration in their own criminal cases in exchange for their cooperation. But the hours of tapes of the Dukas themselves confirms what Bakalli told the jury.

On the tapes, the men repeatedly discussed what they perceived as the oppression of Muslims around the globe - in Bosnia, Chechnya, Kashmir, the Palestinian territories and other locations. They talked about their own duties as Muslims to wage jihad and help their "brothers."

"The war with Islam has already started," Dritan Duka said on one of the tapes.

The men also talked extensively about where they could buy weapons and how much they cost. Dritan Duka said he had a source for guns in Camden but the source could not talk to him on the phone for fear of being overheard. "We don't want to get caught with guns," he said. "Especially that we have beards. They think we are terrorists." (“Fort Dix informant says he was scared”).

Notice just how deftly Dritan Duka has put his finger directly on what makes us think they’re terrorists.

Never mind the jihad talk and the guns and the laughing at the U.S. soldiers getting blown up. It’s their beards that make us think, “terrorist.”