An Islamic State foreign fighter recruit with his family making Hijrah from Trinidad and Tobago OR a
The article titled “ACP transferred: refuses to arrest PC on terror offences” in the Sunday Express of September 10, 2017 must first be questioned on its accuracy. If it’s in fact an accurate report on what transpired, then grave questions arise of the capacity and capability of the premier civilian covert agency to, in a non-politicised manner, deal with threats to national security. If it’s not accurate then there is an agenda of destabilisation in play which the national security apparatus has to defuse. The article alludes to holes in the security apparatus charged with monitoring persons of interest which if they exist sends a potent message to the “partners” of T&T in the fight against terrorism especially those of the north Atlantic that all talk and no action makes jack a liability even a grave risk.
The said individual who was supposedly branded an Islamic State foot soldier supposedly left Trinidad with his wife and children for Egypt and returned to Trinidad from Egypt reportedly without the knowledge of the agency monitoring him. The said individual who identifies himself in the article as a member of the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (TTPS) then attached to the Parliamentary Unit stated in the article that he was investigated in London and cleared of any terrorist activities. Which supports the article’s statement that he and his family were placed on the terrorist watch list by the T&T security apparatus but he and his family were allowed to fly. The member of the TTPS in the article stated that he and his family are members of the Hebrew Israelite denomination and travelled to Egypt for reasons of faith.
Was this member of the TTPC surveilled to determine his allegiance to Islamic State? How was he and his family to enter territory under the control of IS from Egypt? Most pressing of all is he and his family in fact Hebrew Israelites? Because his designation as a potential IS recruit seeking to undertake Hijrah to Islamic State is simply not adding up as it’s contrary to the methodology of IS. Was he and his family adherents to Salafi Jihadi discourse and methodology whilst in T&T? Who was his Salafi Jihadi Sheik in T&T? Did he and his family personally exhibit and espouse instances of the Salafi Jihadi belief system? What is the history of the family as practising Muslims in T&T is the crucial question for Islamic State is not in the business of converting the kaffirun to Islam before or after they are granted entry to the IS. In light of the shrinkage of the IS and the difficulty in entering territory it holds in Syria in August 2017 why fly your entire family to Egypt? To take this risk illustrates that you are committed to the discourse of IS which means that you must have left a trail of this commitment in T&T. But why fly to Egypt with your wife and children then return to T&T if you are so committed to Islamic State? Or is it that you are in no way linked to Islamic State. It’s that simple.
The person of interest stated in the Express article that he and his family are Hebrew Israelites which in no way gives them credibility to enter Islamic State what it gives them is a free pass to lose their heads as Christian spies. In no way can informed and educated surveillance mistake the belief system of the Hebrew Israelites for that of the Islamic State. If this is an instance of the quality of surveillance, then we have a grave problem. The only other outlandish scenario to visualise is an Islamic State sleeper parading as a Hebrew Israelite. But such sleepers are intent on carrying out attacks and most importantly are chosen by the command of Islamic State and the profile of the person of interest in the article simply doesn’t fit the favoured profile of the IS sleeper attacker. Then if you are an IS sleeper why travel to IS with your family after having failed to execute the order given? You have a death wish to die painfully and graphically at the hands of IS. A person intent on an attack in the name of IS but not under the orders of IS, the lone wolf, will not pack up and travel family included. To assess the threat posed by this person of interest is not rocket science but the daily task requirement for the covert intelligence agencies of the T&T national security apparatus. In the threat horizon of T&T there is can be no space afforded screw ups.
If this is the quality of work in a threat horizon as is that of T&T then we’re in for a rough ride as memories of the road to July 27, 1990 and 9/11 flash back. Both roads paved with political impotence that empowered the assaults launched. This position is the result of only factoring into the analysis the words of the person of interest in the Express article all the rest of the article is simply noise interference. The silence is also noise.