Terror Suspects Played Paintball

[gun-fucious]

Seven Indicted on Terror Charges in U.S.
Thu Sep 25, 7:26 PM ET

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20030925/ap_on_re_mi_ea/terrorism_arrests_3
By CURT ANDERSON, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON - The ultimate goal of seven men training to join a terrorist jihad in Kashmir (news - web sites) was to aid al-Qaida and the Taliban by battling U.S. troops in Afghanistan (news - web sites), according to a federal indictment returned Thursday.

The 32-count superseding indictment by a grand jury in Alexandria, Va., "reveals the true and underlying purpose of the conspiracy, and demonstrates our continuing commitment and resolve to bring all of the conspirators to justice," said U.S. Attorney Paul McNulty.

The seven men, along with four others, had originally faced numerous charges stemming from an alleged plot to join Laskar-e-Tayyaba, an Islamic extremist group seeking to drive India out of Kashmir. Four of the defendants have already pleaded guilty to weapons and other charges.


The new indictment contends that the men planned to train with Laskar-e-Tayyaba and then join al-Qaida and Taliban fighters against American troops in the Afghanistan war.


The new charges include conspiracy to levy war against the United States, to provide material support to al-Qaida and to contribute services to the former Taliban-run government in Afghanistan.


"Today's new charges demonstrate that we will pursue cases until all the facts are uncovered," said Christopher Wray, chief of the Justice Department (news - web sites)'s criminal division.


The indictment alleges that the defendants met in northern Virginia shortly after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, to discuss how to obtain training from Laskar-e-Tayyaba so they could fight American troops in Afghanistan.


At the meeting, an unidentified co-conspirator officials say was the group's spiritual leader is quoted as saying that U.S. military forces expected to converge on Afghanistan "would be legitimate targets of violent jihad" and that the men had a religious duty to fight them.


The spiritual leader said that Laskar-e-Tayyaba "was on the correct path" and that one defendant, Randall Todd Royer, could help all the men join the terrorist group in Pakistan.


The men trained with AK-47 weapons in Virginia, Pennsylvania and elsewhere and also practiced military tactics by playing paintball games. Three of the men actually received training and fired weapons at a Laskar-e-Tayyaba camp in Pakistan, according to the indictment.


The men's families and lawyers have portrayed them as peaceful and said they are innocent of terrorism charges. All lived in the suburbs around Washington.


Besides Royer, those charged Thursday are: Masoud Ahmad Khan, a U.S. citizen; Ibrahim Ahmed al-Hamdi, a Yemeni national; Seifullah Chapman, a U.S. citizen; Hammad Abdur-Raheem, a U.S. citizen; Caliph Basha Ibn Abdur-Raheem, a U.S. citizen; and Sabri Benkhala, a U.S. citizen.


Already entering guilty pleas were U.S. citizens Donald Thomas Surratt, Yong Ki Kwon and Khwaja Mahmood Hasan and a Pakistani national, Mohammed Aatique. They are to be sentenced later this year.


An arraignment for the seven men on these new charges was set for Monday in federal court in Alexandria.

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paintball while alot of fun teaches you some really bad real gunfight tactics

like bushes are cover

 

[Mark Tyson]

It's also a bad habit to get "used" to being hit - you won't be so cautious.

 

[Devonai]

Paintball is good for teaching concealment, movement to contact, response to ambush, and covering fire.

Paintball is bad for teaching use of cover, ammunition conservation, and working as a team.

However, with a team that agrees to treat paintballs as if they were live rounds, it can be good for learning squad movement, hand signals, and communication.

Using basic squad infantry tactics learned in the MVM (as taught by the National Guard), my friends and I have done extremely well against unorganized amateurs and semi-professionals.

Unfortunately the number of days I have played paintball as part of such a team is exactly two, so I make no claims that my experiences are representative of the larger paintball community. I have heard that trained soldiers routinely get their butts kicked by hardcore paintballers using strictly paintballer tactics.

 

[Sactown]

I've seen law enforcement and military guys get their butts handed to them over and over by 15 year old kids in woods games and especially in the short field hyperball and airball fields.

Paintball is many things, but a militaristic trainer it is definitely not.

 

[standingbear]

gimme a break....there wasnt paintball for me growing up so we used bb guns.yes..those marksman 45 lookalikes.we were not training to become world dominators or assassins.it was not exactly a brilliant thing to do as teenagers,we wore shielded motorcycle helmets and getup.this day an age,alot of the people i work with do the paintball thing and they arent terrorist wannabes either.not everyone enjoys baseball and football.

 

[enichols]

I played paintball for a few years, and the biggest thing I've learned is that many of the tactics used when playing paintball will, in a real firefight, get you killed real fast.

 

[El Tejon]

New Marine prayer: "Please, God, let them all "train" by playing paintball!"