Dear Sir / Madam

I am 46 years old, Canadian citizen and native of Pakistan (muslim). I was an immigration consultant in Canada and also member of Canadian Bar Association as part of my business , I had an office in New York.
During 2001 immediately after the Sept 11, event the US govt arrested me on Oct 25, 2001 on anonymous call, as a material witness for the 9/11 world trade centre terrorist attack. A detail investigation by the FBI and USA Naval intelligence dept was conducted and I was cleared, but even then govt put me in front of Grand jury , and I was cleared and the case was dismissed by the Grand jury of the US Federal Court .
Approximately after 2 weeks , before I was released from custody the US Govt imposed a new charges of Fraud and money laundering , under the advice of my attorney , I pleaded guilty and I was sentenced to prison for five years (which was four years more, what I pleaded). In which I had already spent 3 years in Detention jail, during the case , I had about 14 months left to finishing my sentence ,(instead of appealing, I preferred to applied for Treaty Transfer to Canada, because if the case is in the appeal, defendant is not eligible for transfer back to his home country).
While at prison, I learned from the case manager Miss Hause, that my citizen was incorrect in the FBOP’s (Federal Bureau of Prison) computer system as Pakistani instead of Canadian.
Its important to note , that all of my Canadian identifications (passport , citizenship card , S.I.N , Health card , Driving license etc) were under FBI’s possession, with a great deal of concern, I wrote a letter to the Canadian Consulate in Buffalo, N.Y to notify such mistake and requested them to fix this problem. This is especially important for Treaty Transfer back to Canada.
The Canadian Consulate official sent a letter to the jail to correct my citizenship status, however FBOP ignored the request and the citizenship status in the FBOP computer still reflect Pakistani instead of Canadian (Note:- I would be required to obtain visa to visit Pakistan) .In contrast , the deportation letter received from US Immigration dept, Contained the correct citizenship status of Canada.
At the hindsight, I believe that the FBOP intentionally left the citizenship as Pakistani, so that they could retained me at their facility, while the govt is planning to file new charges against me 3rd time.
Approximately six weeks before my released date on Jan 30 ,2006 I was notified by the FBOP that I was being transferred from Allenwood , PA to MDC (Metropolitan Detention Centre) in Brooklyn N.Y, it was explained to me, that the purpose of this transfer was in preparation for deportation back to Canada, (after few days, I signed the immigration deportation papers, with my consular Miss Chen).
But immediately after my arriving to MDC Brooklyn, I discovered during a phone call with my family in Montreal, that RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) official had contacted my sister and brother-in-law regarding the whereabouts of my wife and my current situation, there was no explanation given by the RCMP official to the purpose of the call and he left his phone number and asked my wife to call him back immediately, my wife called the RCMP official and left messages in his voice mail. Then the official contacted my brother-in-law again and had asked him to tell my wife not to call again, because there is nothing good nor anything bad.
Meanwhile the AUSA ( Astt United States Attorney) office Investigator and FBI brought me to their office to be interrogated without an attorney present, even AUSA told in the court to the judge on March 16, 2006 that he arranged attorney for me before my arrival from Allenwood PA to MDC Brooklyn, N.Y, on Transcript; page 11, Transcript line No: 14 to 23.
AUSA:-
He (Khalid Awan) was writ in the cause of a grand jury investigation. He clearly had criminal exposure. So to protect his interest I made an application to the duty magistrate for counsel to be appointed.
THE COURT:-
Initially he was brought here by a Court to testify before the grand jury?
AUSA:-
That is correct, Your Honour.
THE COURT:-
When he arrived here, you made arrangements for an attorney to be pointed to request him?
AUSA:-
Yes, Your Honour.
This interrogation started with the AUSA office Investigator stating that my family will be arrested in Canada if I refused to answer their questions.
At this point I am certain that my family is in great danger for reasons that I am not aware of. I was scared that my family would be harassed by these people along with the Canadian RCMP official, I strongly believe that the RCMP is doing this intentionally in collaboration with FBI official to further harass me to admit charges, that I never committed.
Without knowledge of the reasons why the Canadian RCMP agency was involved. I was surprised that RCMP official directly approached my family instead of me without proper explanation, and its also shocked for me, that how RCMP got the phone number of my family (because before my arrest, I don’t have any single record in any police dept, of any country).
I was intimated and pushed to the edge during this interrogation, I was determined to provide anything these USA officials wanted to make them happy even is the questions made no sense, because I want them to stop the harassment to my family.
On March 15, 2006 I completed the term of my imprisonment and was to be released from American Custody and deported back to Canada. Before that I was arrested again 3rd time, and charged with providing “material support to a foreign terrorist” and money laundering (to a organization and person, which are not designated by the USA govt and belongs to Sikh religion) , and with whom, I don’t have any single common interest, because we both are from different countries and different religions.
These charges emerged while I was still in prison and without the capability of providing any type of support. It was even difficult for me to get enough financial assistance to pay legal fees. I could not have provided any material support while I was in prison for five years and I could not launder any money because I did not have any.
AUSA filed three counts of indictment against me.
Conspiracy to provide material support.
Provide a material support to the foreign terrorist.
Money laundering to support terrorism.
(Please note, that in my previous case govt charged me for money laundering and fraud from Jan 1999 to 2002 and “its mentioned in the plea-agreement by the AUSA that no further money laundering charges will be brought against defendant from Jan 1999 to April 2002” even then govt indict me for money laundering from 1998 to Nov 2001 (Which is double Jeopardy and violation of 5th Amendment of U.S Constitution.)
In Oct 2006, during pre-trial hearing on the motion’s filed by my attorney the first two counts of my indictment were dismissed by the judge, stating that there is a lack of facts and figures.
After two weeks AUSA re-indicted me again. I believe this is a desperate act of the AUSA to cover up a huge embarrassment . Further this hastily drawn indictment was full of factual errors and creative legal theories.
Since I was first arrested by the American govt, I believe that I have been singled out, isolated `and discriminated against primarily because of my race and religion, in addition to the fact that I don’t know any information that the American govt is trying to pressure out of me.
I do not understand the American laws and this is what led to my pleading guilty in the first case. I have difficulty understanding the new charges also.
I have been charged under, section 2339(a) of Title 18 of the United States code, which makes it illegal to provide material support to a foreign terrorist.
Please understand, I am not a terrorist, I do not know any terrorist and I have had no connections with or to any known or unknown terrorist. I have been incarcerated for last 5 years and I had no money to provide or launder.
The law enforcement have in America is pressuring me to provide information to them that I really do not have or know. I am a Canadian Citizen and nearly all of my family is in Canada, including my wife and kids. I don’t know any information to tell them to help their investigation.
Because of this , I am being treated unfairly and my rights under the American constitution are being violated. I am being held here in further detention against my will for crimes which I could have never committed, because I was in prison.
I believe, that I am a victim of the discrimination that was outlined in the July 3, 2006 issue of Time magazine (Page 29, column 3). In this article section 2339(a) & (b) are discussed and criticized “as most suspects are charged under these two sections. However, the justice dept here in America admits that of the more than 218 guilty pleas that it has obtained, most are for minor investigation issues that are uncovered deeding the course of their terrorism investigation. This suggest, according to the article that the Attorney General’s office have is not concerned about the rights or fairness or the manner in which it achieves convictions for the people they arrest. Furthermore, criticizes have noted that one of the patterns to emerge from these domestic prosecutions is that suspect seen too incompetent to carry out the deeds they are accused of. The Deputy Attorney General acknowledges that the Dept of Justice’s goal is “ preventions through prosecution’s” and this is done with no regard for an individual’s rights.
I agree that these guilty of terrorism should be prosecuted . But as the above mentioned article suggest , innocent people should not be targeted because of their race or religion.
I am not a terrorist and I should not be targeted and treated unfairly and unjustly.
I need your assistance desperately in my case, as I believe that I am being treated unjustly here. I would like to send you my attorney’s contact information and provide you with legal documents related to my case, so that you may become more familiar with my situation.
Please also note, that I appeared in the court , for no guilty of my 2nd superseding indictment on Aug 02, 2006 and on Aug 03, 2006 FBOP officials placed me in the SHU (Segregation Housing Unit) out of these months, I placed in the SHU isolation from Jan 03, 2007 to March 6, 2007 for unknown “Pending Investigation” in these 215 days of my segregation and isolation, I don’t have a single phone call access to my family, no legal calls to my attorney and Canadian Council, my legal mail opened in my absence, no medical treatment for my injured shoulder (even I went for hunger strike for 3 and half day) I harassed by the various jail officials and lot of other problems too which already been submitted in the attention of the FBOP higher authorities, but no action taken on them, after writing the court, instead of receiving the response or any action on my complaints, jail officials removed /moved me from MDC federal facility to Nassau County Jail .
My suffering has gone on for far too long, and I need your help to bring my suffering to an end. I want to return home to my family, because my imprisonment was injustice and will remain a great injustice forever.
May God bless you and be with you in your efforts to champion the cause of human rights, and the suffering of innocent prisoners and restore hope, faith and love to peoples all over the world.

Sincerely,
KHALID AWAN
FBOP NO. 50959-054

The court will be on 12 September 2007.

Prayer? Prayer is the answer to our problems? I'm afraid I cannot endorse useless murmurs of adulation and begging a non-entity as a solution to our problems. With this line of reasoning, we'll all have plenty of time for prayer when we are the serfs of a despotic Caliph. Right now we must fight while we still have something to defend.

ORL,
You say sorry about the system problem. Do you control the system :-) ?

Take a look at the other side's view. :-)

http://www.commentarymagazine.com/cm/main/viewArticle.html?id=10916
http://www.commentarymagazine.com/cm/main/viewArticle.html?id=10882&page=all

dancewater, here is my last paragraph in full.

Don't take me wrong: I only have compassion for all of us. But as Chris Hedges points out ("War Is a Force that Gives Us Meaning", p. 17): "It is especially important that we, who wield such massive force across the globe, see within ourselves the seeds of our own obliteration. We must guard against the myth of war and the drug of war that can, together, render us as blind and callous as some of those we battle."

Sorry about the system problem.

dancewater: "I remember - before the war on Iraq started - going to a SOS (Support Our Soldiers) rally and telling every person in uniform that I thanked them for serving our country and that I hope they did not go into Iraq. Every last one of them told me they wanted to go. I do not understand that level of - insanity? stupidity? - I don't know what to call it, but really it was beyond belief."

dancewater, in case this may help understand, hear me bear witness, for a second.

I once went through BASIC (MARKETING) TRAINING (6 months) in one of the largest American corporations. The outstanding methods used to train new employees, there, were often derived from those used in the US armed forces and "adapted" to civilians. As a matter of fact, a surprising number of employees and instructors, in that corporation (NOT a military concern), had served in the armed forces.

Well, to make a complex story simple, let me tell you that even civilians like me, considered "a wild duck" (their expression), were prepared to readily accept almost any "mission" for the benefit of the corporation, at the end of that training, however risky, if not outright "suicidal", from a business (even from a career) standpoint.

I think I can therefore well imagine what professional killers will happily volunteer to do, at the end of their military training, once the myth of war has been thoroughly internalized, i.e. become their very blood, flesh and bones.

Don't take me wrong: I only have compassion for all of us.

My fake god (flying spaghetti monster) is better and stronger than your fake god Yahwe,Allah, Muhammed etc. Muhammed was a child molester. All hail Lord Xenu. Apollo rules. All hail Zuess.

Sam,
Try to be more creative will you ? You remind me of Himler, who was the propaganda minister of Nazi Germany. There's good Israelis and malicious Israelis. They've survive so much pogroms in their history to know every trick. In Europe there's a word called Masonic Jews. These are people who owns banks media companies, governments. These are, by nature of their work, shadows behind the scene. You don't know who they're, where they lives but they control your money, you bank account, and your security. Together with those who like power and fame, like the Bushes and Blair, they may do some harm to your countries and your way of life. They're NOT 6 million of the average Israelis who escape injustices in Europe or other countries in the Middle East.

You must know your enemies better before you can contemplate on fighting with them. Without that knowledge, you only hate the average Jew and like Hitler, kill all of them, which will never work, and that injustice creates this injustice.

The problem isn't the Jews or Israelis as a whole, it's just a few warmongers and warprofiteers which infact from every nation possible on Earth.

All chroinc problems in the Middle East being in Lebanon, Afganistan, Iraq or Palestine are generated by one malicious power house named Israel. The unlimited support of the US to Israel from 1948 till now ,and the illegal creation of Israel on the ruins of Palestine, has led to unmatched state of disappointment and despair in the Middle East, which in turn has led to the creation of terrorist groups who are ready to sacrifice their own bodies in a holy war agianst Israel and US interests, not only in the Middle East but all over the world.
What do we expect from a palestinian refugee who has been deprived of all his belongings and thrown out of his country to live in a refugee camp for more than 60 years now.
The war in Iraq is nothing but an Israeli war unfortunately fought with US blood and US taxpayer's money.It is time for the US admin to wake up to the real cause of all problems in the area and to change its foreign policy categorically.

jó napot kívánok !

"I wish I could say what we should do. I wish I had known the answer and been asked before the World Trade Center towers went down. I am afraid things have gone overboard since then, and it may be too late to return to the path of normality, at least for a long time."

It's not too late even now. Instead of praying - which is a good way to forget bad things and turn a blind eyes to violent you must have the courage and the knowledge to understand the truth. The truth is 9/11 is a complicated matter and that's the core of the escalation. It's like the Gulf of Tonkin incident in the Vietnam war. 30 years later, the USA came to the realization that Gulf of Tonkin is a spin. The sooner Americans understand 9/11, the less human lives will be lost on both sides : the West and the East.

Every good physics student after 12 years of basic study (liceum here in Poland) should know how to calculate the time of free-fall motion and know that some metal like iron (Fe) need more than 1000 degree C to melt. Look at the sej.pdf document for 20 minutes and one can have a reasonable doubt as to why the towers collapse.

I wish you Miklos a good reading.

"Why Indeed did the WTC Buildings Collapse?"
-- Stephen Jones

His hypothesis is that on September 11, 2001, the World Trade Center towers and World Trade Center 7 collapsed as a result of controlled demolition, not the impact of the airplanes that hit them or the fires that followed. In his paper Jones underscores what he says are deficiencies in the official explanations, including: symmetry of the collapses, speed of the collapses, characteristics of dust jets, reports of molten metal in the debris piles, failures of the official collapse theories; and calls for further scientific investigation to test the controlled demolition hypothesis along with the release of all relevant data by the government. Shortly after the seminar Jones made the paper available on the website of the physics department of Brigham Young University. It would eventually be published in a book of essays critical of the official version of the September 11, 2001, attacks, 9/11 and American Empire: Intellectuals Speak Out, edited by David Ray Griffin and Peter Dale Scott.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steven_E._Jones#WTC_collapse_controversy
http://www.tyrannyalert.com/sej.pdf

Mr. Vamos,

I share your sentiments, but as you can see from many of the responses to your post, far too many of our fellow men are already poisoned with the two greatest evils of all: ignorance and arrogance. Together they have contributed to the state of our republic (the US) today, even in the face of exponential growth in the availablility of information. Americans are bewildered, and "terrorism" is just one more reason for people to grow fearful and look to "their" government to help them. As more and more Americans begin to see themselves as consumers first and citizens a distant second, the political dialogue in this nation weakens and the consolidation of interests that run our government's policies narrows. The long-term consequences of this are severe, more so than any "external" threat to our lives and indeed our way of life. All one needs to do is look into the past to see what the future may hold for a people so intoxicated by fear and so unable to conjure up even the slightest level of creative and original thought.

I remember - before the war on Iraq started - going to a SOS (Support Our Soldiers) rally and telling every person in uniform that I thanked them for serving our country and that I hope they did not go into Iraq. Every last one of them told me they wanted to go. I do not understand that level of - insanity? stupidity? - I don't know what to call it, but really it was beyond belief.

For me beheading a captive in their culture is more cultured than torturing your captives in jails like Cuba or Iraq. Only they don't have 24 TV to brainwash their population so they have to use the internet to show a blurry picture of such beheading.
That's fair to me, considering the rapes and killing of civilians of your army in Iraq.

Those who are brave enough to blow themselves up like that is more a human to me than those sitting in a airplane and push a button to kill civilians, it's the same, mass killing, no more no less, unless some are more brave than these others.

I tell you, in all study they've made about brainwashing, only people who suspects that they're being brainwashed may go out of it.

I'm not sure that I'm not.

Um, how are my comments "evil," or "stupid" or "brainwashed?" Because you don't agree with them?

There's nothing about being "fair" that means having to agree with every opposing point of view. The people who behead their captives, or blow themselves up amidst crowds of civilians, or call for the death of anyone with which they disagree, those people are evil in the practical sense of the word. They must be rejected. We can work positively to change the environment that produces them, but we should never think that they are worthy of our respect or of the benefit of the doubt.

We should stop unilaterally meddling in cultures we do not understand. We should stop stirring up hornets' nests just to see what happens. But again, that doesn't mean we just throw up our hands and hope an entire section of the planet just fixes itself without hurting any of us in the process. I'm getting a little tired of hearing how everything wrong in the Muslim world is actually our fault. I find that extraordinarily difficult to take seriously.

{But we must recognize that some people on this planet are hardwired to think we are evil, no matter what we say or do. We can never negotiate with them.}

This is a spin. It equates to "these people are evil" or "with us or with the enemies" thinking.

Even the professed to be fair can't be fair himself, how those brainwashed Americans can get out of that mess ?

America is sentenced to self-destruction by it own evils and stupidity.

Sam, I appreciate that you are trying to provide an alternate perspective but your violent anti-Jewish screed does you no favors. To begin with, you are factually wrong when you say that Palestine was wiped off the map and replaced with Israel. Look at the original partition map that the Israelis accepted and the Arabs rejected, and you will see that the Palestinians could have had a sovereign state that included all of the West Bank, Gaza Strip, East Jerusalem, as well as a good part of what is now internationally recognized to be Israel. The Arabs rejected that and chose war instead, thinking they could do better. They gambled and lost. You need to accept that and get over it and move on, just as other countries to have lost aggressive wars and lost territory -- Germany comes immediately to mind -- have done so. Instead the Arabs just continue fighting the same fight, over and over, each time losing a little bit more.

It's that failure to do anything positive that is the root cause of our terrorism problem today, and that's why what's happening in London and the UK is not just their problem, but all of ours. Because enraged and militant Muslims can be found anywhere, and their bombs have exploded pretty much everywhere.

What exacerbates it is our current Administration's criminally-incompetent military adventures. How anyone thought it was a good idea to just invade Iraq without so much as a back-of-the-napkin plan to deal with the aftermath, is beyond me. Now the President justifies our continuing military presence solely in terms of preventing the results of our mistake. It's become completely circular and incoherent. So to that extent, I agree with Mr. Vamos that we're not helping matters much with our current actions.

But negotiate with terrorists??? What would we offer? To sacrifice Israel to the Sams of the world? To allow 10% of our population to be ceremoniously beheaded? To stop expressing ideas that any Muslim might find offensive? No - we should continue our lives as they were, but sensitive to our being the elephant in the room. Let's stop rampaging around without a care to what we crush. But we must recognize that some people on this planet are hardwired to think we are evil, no matter what we say or do. We can never negotiate with them.

To the Imbecilic Frank Collins:

Have not the "Christians" spilled enough blood across the centuries?
Have you ever studied the precepts of Islam, or are you just repeating the rantings of Limbaugh, O'Reilly and the rest who demand tolerance of their views but grant it to no one?
Are you really so stupidly bellicose that you cannot recognize how Pyrrhic this "victory" would be?
When exactly did Christ suggest that we randomly kill our enemies?

Your lack of honor, principle and courage are appalling....and all too emblematic of the Administration leading this country

"The myth of war entices us with the allure of heroism... The prospect of war is exciting. Many young men, schooled in the notinon that war is the ultimate definition of manhood, that only in war will they be tested and proven, that they can discover their worth as human beings in battle, willingly join the great enterprise.

...

War usually starts with collective euphoria.

It is all the more startling that such fantasy is believed, given the impersonal slaughter of modern industrial warfare.

...

But even in the new age of warfare we cling to the outdated notion of the single hero able to carry out daring feats of courage on the battlefield. Such heroism is about as relevant as mounting bayonet or cavalry charges. But peddling the myth of heroism is essential, maybe even more so now, to entice soldiers into war.

...

Many of us, restless and unfulfilled, see no supreme worth in our lives. We want more out of life. And war, at least, gives a sense that we can rise above our smallness and divisiveness."

Chris Hedges, "War Is a Force that Gives US Meaning"

You seem to be quite alien to the civilized world we live in.You want to nuke anybody who is non zionist in this world.I frankly tell you you are a disgrace to the human race of the 21st century.Have you ever tried to consult a doctor.I advise you to do so without any delay.

Miklos,

I actually liked what you said. There is truth in there. Truth that lies in choosing not hatred and violence first, but a different course.

The hateful and hurtful who comment here refuse to think outside their narrow views. Stopping wars does not mean terrorists win anymore then negotiating with terrorists means peace is impossible.

I would ask these people how the current situation is helping? Is fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan making us safe? Are there fewer terrorists in the world? Is living in London or Washington or New York or Paris a guarantee of safety? No, of course not.

What is being proposed is not giving up. If they fight, we fight back. But we do it with a coalition of the world not 'my way or else'. We don't attack first and ask questions later. We take the high road. We engage. We engage the enemies allies and find ways to find common ground and peace. It may never be perfect. there will always be those who use violence as their means. That does not require us to do the same.

If we had engaged Iran and Syria at the beginning of this, if we had stayed and finished the job in Afghanistan, would the world be different? I believe it would. You may believe otherwise.

Wisdom is a far greater force then a fist. Patience is required. Strength is also required. But strength of mind above strength of force. If you can't see that then you are as dangerous as your enemies. And I would submit that is exactly where we are right now.

The whole world will never see peace as long as the crime of the 20th century is not handled adequately.The legitimate state of Palestine was removed from the world map to be replaced by the illegitimate state of Israel with new immigrants from all over the world.Palestinians,being moslems or christians,were kicked out into refugee camps to be replaced by jews from Europe,Russia,Ethiopia etc.
Repercussions of this heinous crime are behind all turmoil and bloodshed in the Middle East including Iraq,Lebanon,Palestinian occupied territories,Syria,Iran etc.
The unlimited support of US to Israel is encouraging the latter to reject all UN resolutions on the Palestinian Issue including Resolution 194 which calls for the return of all Palestinian refugees home.It is time for the US admin to wake up to the real cause of all problems in the area and to change its foreign policy categorically

"try to engage with them by all means, including negotiation."

In other words reward those who have injured us and continue to try to injure us, in the hopes that they will be satisfied and stop. When in the history of humanity has that plan worked well? It has certainly been tried a lot. We tend to remember those cases (appeasing Hitler, etc.) where those trying it survived at great cost. But I think history hold more examples where those trying it were simply wiped out.

"Even if the odds are low that any politician or power can come to an agreement with them, low chances are still better than no chance."

Not correct. Behind your statement is the absurd idea that what you suggest carries low chance of doing good and high chance of doing nothing. In reality your suggestion carries high chance (I think certainty) of doing massive harm.

1) You will strengthen those groups and make it easier for them to find money and recruits.

2) You will educate every other group with a grudge that violence is the most effective first step.