On Releasing the Blind Sheikh

"For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places." Ephesians 6:12.

"Treason against the United States, shall consist...in adhering to their Enemies, giving them aid and comfort." United States Constitution, Article III, Section 3.


"The Blind Sheikh is the most famous international terrorist ever tried in the United States, and among the most dangerous ever prosecuted anywhere....After all, Osama [sic] bin Laden credits Abdel Rahman with having issued the fatwas approving the 9/11 attacks, the most horrific acts of terrorism in American history, direct from the federal penitentiary I helped put him in."  Andy McCarthy, Willful Blindness: A Memoir of the Jihad, p. 91.


In June, the Obama administration issued a visa to enter the United States to Hani Nour Aldin, an operative of the Egyptian Jihadist organization Ga'amat al-Islamia.  While in Washington, Aldin met with Obama administration officials, where apparently they discussed releasing the Blind Sheikh.  This is a VERY dangerous development, and it needs to be stopped.

First things first, who is the Blind Sheikh?!?

Omar Abdel Rahman was born in Egypt in 1938, and lost his sight to diabetes in 1942.  Known as the 'Emir of Jihad,' Abdel Rahman rose through the Islamist ranks in the 1970's.  He was imprisoned for three years following his widely suspected role in the 1981 assassination of Egyptian dictator of Anwar Sadat; Abdel Rahman's trial in the Sadat affair remains a legendary piece of Jihadist propaganda (49).  Following his acquittal, the Blind Sheikh moved to Afghanistan, where he exercised "great influence over the so called 'Arab-Afghans;' who joined the mujahideen resistance against the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.(25)"  In Afghanistan, his relationship with Usama bin Laden flourished.  Following the Afghan jihad, the Blind Sheikh relocated to Brooklyn, where he provided spiritual 'guidance' to a terrorist cell that was responsible for the 1990 assassination of Rabbi Meir Kahane, the original World Trade Center bombing in 1993, and the foiled 1994 NYC Landmarks Plot.  In 1995, he was convicted for Seditious Conspiracy against the United States and sentenced to life in Prison.  Ever since, his release from American custody has been a major Jihadist goal.

While the comparison is imprecise, the Blind Sheikh can be reasonably understood as Usama bin Laden's predecessor.  As Andy McCarthy explains, "the Blind Sheikh admired the Grand Ayatollah [Kohmeini], and harbored dreams of an Egyptian replication of the Iranian coup d'etat. (35)"  Sadly, this longstanding Jihadist objective is now reality.  A Blind Sheikh released into a newly Islamicized Egypt could wreak untold havoc.  And the Obama administration is apparently giving serious consideration to his release.

Releasing the Blind Sheikh would be an act of treason against the United States, as defined in Article III, Section 3.  The Blind Sheikh is clearly an enemy of the United States, and his release would clearly be an act of "adherence," "aid," and "comfort."  It's important to establish the terms of the debate now, and to give Barack Obama advance notice, in order for Barack Obama to be held properly accountable should he chose to release the Blind Sheikh.