Bombing Plot on JFK Airport Foiled

Only a week after John Edwards declared the War on Terror a "bumper sticker", four men have been charged with plotting to blow up jet fuel flowing under New York's Kennedy Airport. Terrorism as a philosophy and methodology is alive and well.

"The devastation that would be caused had this plot succeeded is just unthinkable," said Roslynn Mauskopf, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, where the criminal complaint was filed.

The alleged ringleader of the plot, former JFK Airport employee Russell Defreitas, 63, was the only person in U.S. custody. Following his arrest Friday night, Defreitas appeared in Brooklyn federal court Saturday but did not enter a plea. He is scheduled to have a bail hearing next Wednesday.

Two other suspects are in custody in Trinidad. Abdul Kadir, a citizen of Guyana who has served as a member of the Guyanese Parliament and a mayor of the city of Linden, and Kareem Ibrahim, a citizen of Trinidad.

We need to understand that really the U.S. is fighting two wars. One, a war against Islamic Extremists who wish to subjugate the world under their dark rule. This war is similar to World War II or the Cold War. Two, we are fighting a war to get across to the world that Terrorism is unacceptable as a tool of war. This War is more like the movements to ban chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons. If we do not win the first War, our children may live in a world shrouded in the shadow of tyranny. If we do not win the second war, our children may live in a world without certainty or safety, where every person with a gripe feels they have a right to harm others by any means.