What Plays in Peoria

I guess Peoria is better known than we thought. But then so was Lackawanna, NY, and here. And why not Madison, Wisconsin? Senator Russ Feingold has put the town on the map again with his presidential ambitions. Yeah, let's call for censure of the President, that's the ticket! The president is monitoring Al Qaeda communications from overseas to the US, apparently a crime in Sen. Feingold's eyes. But perhaps Madison has no need to worry, after all, they are a nuclear free zone. The Capitol Times, editorial, 2002:

We are, however, already a "nuclear free zone" and have been since the City Council passed such an ordinance in 1983.

The fact that Madison declared itself a nuclear free zone was seen as a joke then and perhaps some folks still think it is amusing. But Akiba is serious about communities working together for peace. Madison has a long history of doing just that and should follow the lead of Miller and Akiba in actively working toward the intertwined goals of peace and an end to nuclear weapons.

Oh, wrong peacenik issue. A terrorist free zone then.....or maybe Madison wants to welcome them as freedom fighters. Or something.

But I digress. Back to Peoria. The Chicago Tribune today:

An alleged Al Qaeda sleeper agent arrested in West Peoria in December 2001 was picked for his work by Sept. 11 attack planner Khalid Shaikh Mohammed in part because the agent was married and had children, thus making him less likely to attract attention, new court documents show.

Ali Saleh Kahlab al-Marri, a Qatari national, was told to arrive in the U.S. before Sept. 11, 2001, and to head to Pakistan if he did not make it into this country before then, according to court papers filed in Charleston, S.C.

Al-Marri, his wife and five children arrived in the U.S. on Sept. 10, 2001, purportedly to study at Bradley University, authorities said.

The US government wants to continue to hold al-Marri as an enemy combatant:

The declassified summary indicates that al-Marri traveled to Dubai in August 2001 and was given $10,000 to $13,000, plus $3,000 for a laptop computer, by Mustafa Ahmed al-Hawsawi, an Al Qaeda paymaster and a lieutenant of Mohammed.

The computer later was found to contain files on how to make hydrogen cyanide, a potentially lethal toxin, as well as more than 1,000 apparent credit card numbers and other financial data, which formed the basis of fraud charges originally lodged against al-Marri.

And I guess this family man is engaged in the family business:

The document states that Mohammed communicated about al-Marri's activities in the U.S. through his brother, Jaralla Saleh Mohamed Kahla al-Marri, who now is being held at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba.

So Peoria is less one sleeper agent family man, courtesy of the president's war on terror. What would you do, Senator Feingold?

Here's latest GOP video ad, top left link on the site.