PDA

View Full Version : Obama and the dirty bomb that wasn't - revisited




tangent4ronpaul
06-03-2009, 04:15 PM
http://www.instantnews.net/cummings-and-his-dirty-bomb-analysed.aspx

Cummings and his "dirty bomb" analysed

Updated Connections to white supremacy groups "may or not be there"

Posted by Aharon Etengoff at 06:06 AM GMT on Mar 16, 2009

ON 9 DECEMBER 2008, US law enforcement officials seized a stockpile of radiological material and dispersal device components at a Maine residence.

Four jars labeled "uranium metal" contained depleted 238 uranium, while two containers were filled with thorium 232.

The radioactive cache had belonged to James Cummings, an abusive millionaire who was shot to death by his estranged wife, Amber. James, who mixed the chemicals in his kitchen
sink, was allegedly interested in building a "dirty bomb." Indeed, literature referring to the construction of such a weapon - including references to cesium-137, strontium-90 and cobalt-60 - was discovered in the Cummings' household.

Although Cummings possessed depleted uranium (DU), the material was weakly radioactive and not suitable for use in a dirty bomb. According to the World Health Organization, most DU digested or absorbed into the human body is processed and expelled without adverse effects.

James was reportedly angered over the election of President Barack Obama and had even completed a membership application for entry into the National Socialist Movement, a nefarious white-supremacist organisation.

However, Rick Eaton, a senior researcher at the Simon Wiesenthal Center, told The News that Cummings "may or may not" have had a "connection" with white supremacy groups.

"James Cummings' connections to white supremacy may or not be there. He was certainly an admirer of Adolf Hitler, but then again, a lot of people admire Hitler. James reportedly only filled out his membership applications forms, but never mailed them."

According to Eaton, white supremacist organisations perceive the election of the first African-American president as the "best thing that could have happened" to them. Yet, Eaton cautioned that it was "too soon" to determine if Obama's presidency had "translated into an actual increase in hate group recruitment."

Eaton also noted that the global economic recession had led to a surge of anti-Semitic activity on the Internet.

"The economy has provided an excellent opportunity for hateful individuals to spread anti-Semitic views. For example, there has been a lot of heightened discussion, like on Stormfront's (an American neo-Nazi site) forums. It is particularly disturbing that this material has hit mainstream sites as well. However, such activity probably represents personal opinions, rather than a concerted campaign organised by hate groups."

In addition, Eaton expressed his concern over a shift in federal resources to counter international terrorism, rather than monitoring potential threats within the United States.

"Since 9/11, there is only so much of a budget to go around, especially with regards to training. However, law enforcement officials still manage to do a fairly decent job, while taking the threat of domestic terrorism and hate groups very seriously," added Eaton.

Heidi Beirich of the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) expressed similar sentiments.

"We have recorded a 54 per cent increase in the number of hate groups since 2000. What is driving this growth? A backlash against immigration, tied to the idea that America won't have a 'white majority' because of Latino growth," Beirich told The News. "Now we have the Obama phenomenon, coupled with a declining economy," said Beirich.

Like Eaton, Beirich noted that it was still "too early" to measure how Obama's election and the economic slowdown may have affected the recruiting numbers of hate groups. Nevertheless, the SPLC confirmed a rash of violent incidents that occured on election night, including the burning of an African-American church in Massachusetts and the beating of an African-American male in New York.

"This is an indication of a racist backlash which shows rage on an extreme right that is clearly not happy with the presidency," stated Beirich. "During the Bush years, law enforcement officials placed an emphasis on combating international terrorism. While this is also important, Cummings and his dirty bomb efforts only illustrate the importance of remembering the threats posed by hate groups operating on American soil."
The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) adds:

"We have seen somewhat of an increase in white supremacist (not just neo-Nazi) activity as a result of the election and presidency of Barack Obama. It will take time to understand how much of an increase. We have not yet seen a groundswell of activity that we can clearly trace to the recession, but we are certainly concerned that this could happen. The last time we had a very serious recession, in the early 1980s, we did indeed see an increase in extremist activity. So it is a situation we are definitely monitoring.

"We support the strengthening of the federal hate crimes law, as well as the adoption of hate crimes laws by those few states which do not have them. We also encourage law enforcement agencies to make sure their investigators and patrol officers are properly trained on issues related to hate crimes, extremism, and domestic terrorism. This is one reason why we ourselves offer a variety of training programmes for law enforcement at the federal, state, and local levels."