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July 3, 2007

NYT Suggests Terrorist Doctor Wanted To Murder Innocent People Because He Was 'Fretful About His Welcome In English Society'

A piece in the NYT on Mohammed Asha, the Jordanian-trained doctor arrested in the UK terrorist plot, authored by "Serge F. Kovaleski and Hassan M. Fattah" (surely - no bias expected, right? Just fair and balanced reporting), not only sugar coats the jihadist (okay, alleged jihadi Islamonazi), but attempts to paint the Asha as having been racially discriminated against. Good reason for wanting to kill people, right?

Kovaleski and Fattah begin their piece by saying that Asha was "proud of his career accomplishments" but fretful about his welcome in English society" and say that he was arrested "but not charged," as though sure that the poor, discriminated against, Muslim doctor will be exonerated of any wrong doing (certainly possible, but not probable, from what we know at this point):

... proud of his career accomplishments but fretful about his welcome in English society, friends and acquaintances in Jordan and Britain said Monday.

... Simon Plant, 34, recalled in an interview that when Dr. Asha and his wife were interested in renting a modest red brick three-bedroom house last year on a cul-de-sac named Sunningdale Grove, Dr. Asha had a pressing question on his mind. "He seemed very concerned about racism in the area,"

... Mr. Plant said that it soon became apparent to him that Dr. Asha's wife, who was arrested with him on the nearby M6 highway late on Saturday, had experienced racism in the community...

Later in the piece, however, Kovaleski and Fatah finally get around to more honest reporting, without the sugar coating:

Neighbors said the family was insular, but in the last few weeks two men who appeared to be of Middle Eastern descent had started staying with the Ashas at the house.

Chris Shaw, a postal worker who delivered mail to the Asha family, said he was struck that over the last three months or so, Dr. Asha started receiving more packages and certified mail than usual.

"He would just sign for it and go back inside the house without saying much," Mr. Shaw recalled. He added that Dr. Asha seemed bright, educated, courteous and European in his style of dress.

Not far from the Sunningdale Grove house on Monday, law enforcement authorities were searching a second home in Newcastle under-Lyme on Priam Close. Authorities initially searched the residence on Saturday night.

Mr. Plant said Dr. Asha often dressed in traditional Muslim attire, as did his wife, who would retreat upstairs whenever Mr. Plant came to tend to a maintenance problem.

Others recalled that Dr. Asha alternated between wearing Muslim garb and Western clothing, like white dress shirts and suit pants.

Dr. Asha and his wife, who wore a hijab to cover her head, stood out in a closely knit community that does not have much of a Muslim population.

As for the home where the family lived for nearly a year -- where medical books were scattered about -- authorities were stripping the inside paneling and tearing up the drains as part of their investigation. No evidence has emerged publicly against Dr. Asha and no details have been released as to what his role in any plot was presumed to be. A person close to the investigation said Mrs. Asha seemed peripheral to any plot.

Apparently, Kovaleski reported from Newcastle-Under-Lyme, and Fattah from Amman, Jordan. We don't know who wrote the ridiculous opening paragraph, possibly an editor, but Fattah appears to have done a decent job on the Jordan side of the reporting.

One can almost envision the authors hoping that one only reads the begining of their piece, and never gets any further down then their discrimination angle.

Cross posted from Hyscience

Posted by Abdul at July 3, 2007 8:12 AM