Weapon of mass destruction in the court of the mind

 An attack by an Improvised Explosive Device

“...the capacity for evil from an enemy that loves death...” - former Col. Brian Birdwell, Senator, Texas District 22 “...The culture that hates us and attacked us is still out there.” (scroll to the bottom of the article for an exclusive video interview and presentation by veteran photojournalist Jim Peeler of KWTX Television)

Waco – Lest we the people forget, terrorism only works when it causes those who are attacked – their institutions and friends and families – to alter the things they do, what they think, and the way they feel in some permanent and significant way.

Only time will tell the story, make the determination if that is true of we the People of the United States of America.

But it's the little things, the tiny details of life and what is reported in any given news cycle on any otherwise ordinary day that really counts, really makes the impression, and carries the freight of psychological warfare to and from our secret hearts, the places where we really live.

On Friday, April 20, a young man who deserted his post as a soldier of the Army of the United States of America, attacked two of our most important citizen soldiers, a deputy U.S. Marshal and a McLennan County Deputy Sheriff's Officer.

Video surveillance cameras in an elevator at the Federal Courthouse captured the image of Naser Jason Abdo, a 22-year-old Pfc, as he bit the tissues of his lip and tongue, then spat bloody body fluids on his conductors as they escorted him to the federal lockup at the County Jail following an evidentiary hearing in U.S. District Court.

They had restrained him with chains that encircled his waist and attached to cuffs on his ankles and wrists.

Private Abdo is charged with attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction, among eight other allegations of complaint stemming from a July 2011 arrest at a Killeen motel.

He had arrived there following his absenting himself from his post at Ft. Campbell, Kentucky, where was assigned to the 101^st Airborne Division's Company E, 1^st Brigade Combat Team, on July 4.

During his stay in Killeen, he aroused the suspicions of a cab driver and a sales clerk at a local gun store where he attempted to buy smokeless gun powder, a volatile exlosive often used in deadly fragmentation bombs improvised from materials ready to hand, such as lengths of plumber's pipe stuffed with nails or shot, blasting caps, and detonation cords. Both men said his impertinent remarks and ignorant questions made them very wary of the young self-professed adherent to the faith of Islam. They contacted local police to voice their suspicions. (click here to read all about it)

Following the bloody attack on the court officers, federal officials submitted an affidavit of probable cause to a magistrate in a request for a warrant of search to obtain samples of Private Abdo's blood.

They suspect he may be infected with HIV or Hepatitis C virus. Their goal is to determine if they may charge him with an intentional attack using virally contagious blood bearing a sexually transmitted disease, thereby turning his body into a biological weapon. The U.S. Marshal's Service declined to comment on whether the magistrate has as yet granted the search warrant.

It is not a matter of idle speculation, for Private Abdo has made other threats. He told WSMV-TV in Nashville, Tennessee, that he intends to harm a highly placed public official he has refused to name.

Only moments before the attack on the officers, Judge Walter Smith had ruled against a motion by attorneys defending Private Abdo which sought to suppress certain similar threatening remarks he made at the time of his arrest. Judge Smith ruled that the statement may be used as evidence against him, though they allege they were made without his being advised that because anything he said could be used against him in court, he had a right to remain silent, and the counsel of an attorney.

According to the testimony of an FBI agent and a Killeen Police Department detective, officers did advise him of his right to remain silent and to seek the advice of an attorney.

He voluntarily chose to sign documents waiving those rights prior to questioning. They displayed those waivers as exhibits during the brief hearing.

It is not the first time the defendant has made outbursts in the courthouse. On July 29, 2011, he refused to stand as U.S. Magistrate Jeffrey Manske took the bench at his arraignment. Three Deputy U.S. Marshals physically removed him from the chair in which he sat and forced him to stand as the judge intoned the words of arraignment for possession of an unregistered firearm. Judge Manske ordered him to be held without bail at the county jail.

As they left the building, Private Abdo repeated his reasons for what he feels is a need to make a blood atonement to Allah for what he feels are certain transgressions against his faith. He shouted references to the prosecution of Army psychiatrist Major Nidal Hasan, who is charged with the mass murder and wounding of soldiers and civilian workers at Ft. Hood in November of 2009. He also made reference to soldiers from the 101st Airborne who are accused of raping and murdering a 12-year-old Afghani girl.
(click here to view previously televised reports)

In later hearings, Private Abdo answered to additional charges of having bomb-making materials in his motel room at the time of his apprehension in July. He admitted at the time that he planned to turn those materials into improvised explosive devices and use them to attack soldiers and civilians at Ft. Hood.

The following is a comprehensive video report produced by KWTX news camera man Jim Peeler, an interview of Colonel Brian Birdwell, the survivor nearest the point of impact of an improvised explosive device, a Boeing 757 passenger airplane that crashed into America's principal military installation, The Pentagon, on September 11, 2001.

Col. Birdwell now serves as the State Senator of District 22.

Anything the Colonel says may be used as ammunition in defense of we the people of the United States of America. Mr. Peeler made his production available for public sharing as a project produced on Vimeo. It is offered here in the face of implacable hostility and aggression inflicted through psychological means against we the people of our nation.

God save the United States of America, for it is in God we trust.

- The Legendary