Never trust a guy called "Father of Jihad"...

By James Lewis

OK, listen up all you culturally sensitive FBI agents. It's time for your Arabic lessons. Not fancy Arabic - just basic jihadi dude talk.

According to FoxNews,

"Former Navy Sailor Arrested for Allegedly Passing Classified Secrets to Terror Financier"

Sounds like smart detective work, right? The secrets were leaked before 9/11/01, and he was arrested in 2007, giving him a good half dozen years to run from the law.

Except... why didn't anybody pick up on this guy a long time ago? I know we're not supposed to profile anybody, but as Mark Steyn has pointed out, nearly all the convicted Islamic terrorists in the world are all called Mohammed (or Mahmoud, or Ahmed, which mean the same thing). Mohammed Atta, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad,

This sailor's name was Hassan AbuJihaad, meaning "Hussein, Father of Holy Head-Chopping War against Satanic Infidels." Interestingly, Mr. AbuJihaad used to be known as Paul R. Hall. He converted to the One True Faith, and chose that last name. And while it's possible that Mr. AbuJihaad is now a secular Presbyterian, those chances are slim.

But the FBI couldn't take the direct route of saying, "By golly, this guy has chosen an interesting name for himself. " That would be profiling. Instead, they traced him through two holy warrior contacts. One was named Babar Ahmad (natch!),

"a British computer specialist accused of running Web sites to raise money for terrorism." The second holy head-chopper, "Derrick Shareef, 22, ... was accused of planning to use hand grenades to attack holiday shoppers at a mall. ... Shareef and Abujihaad lived together in 2004 when Ahmad was arrest..."

("Shareef" means "descendant of Mohammed.") http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohammed

OK, we have Paul R. Hall, who converts to Islam and takes the name Hassan AbuJihaad. Lives with Mr. Shareef in 2004, who collects hand grenades to use on holiday shoppers. And both of them email Mr. Babar Ahmad in the UK, who collects money for jihad.

Pure coincidence, you say. You can't convict a man for his friends or his last name or his religion. Or his email messages (unless he is a Republican, of course). But you can certainly put a red flag by his name in your little Secret Agent notebook, because

"Abujihaad, a former enlisted man, exchanged e-mails with Ahmad while on active duty on the USS Benfold, a guided-missile destroyer, in 2000 and 2001, according to an affidavit released Wednesday. He allegedly purchased videos promoting violent jihad.

The documents retrieved from Ahmad show drawings of Navy battle groups and discuss upcoming missions. They also say the battle group could be attacked using small weapons such as rocket-propelled grenades. The ships were never attacked. ... Abujihaad had a secret security clearance that would have allowed him access to that material, according to the affidavit."

Do you wonder how many Islamic converts in the last dozen years have made fewer bloopers than Mr. AbuJihaad? And how many of them are still running around?

James Lewis blogs at www.dangeroustimes.wordpress.com