"Former Cat Stevens Barred From Entering U.S"...on watch list and

[in_cog_ni_to]

Cat Stevens is on a terror watch list??? <sigh>


Former Cat Stevens Barred From Entering U.S.
Plane Diverted When Muslim Convert's Name Found on Watch List
By LESLIE MILLER, AP



AP
Yusuf Islam, formerly Cat Stevens

WASHINGTON (Sept. 22) - A London-to-Washington flight was diverted to Maine when it was discovered that passenger Yusuf Islam - formerly known as singer Cat Stevens - was on a government watch list and barred from entering the country.

United Airlines Flight 919 was en route to Dulles International Airport when the match was made Tuesday between a passenger and a name on the watch list, said Nico Melendez, a spokesman for the Transportation Security Administration.

The plane was met by federal agents at Maine's Bangor International Airport around 3 p.m., Melendez said.


"He was interviewed and denied admission to the United States on national security grounds."
-Dennis Murphy, Homeland Security Department spokesman

Homeland Security Department spokesman Dennis Murphy identified the passenger as Islam. ''He was interviewed and denied admission to the United States on national security grounds,'' Murphy said.
<snip>

http://aolsvc.news.aol.com/news/article.adp?id=20040921215009990008

[drfemoe]

1. if ya don't have aol screen name

try one of these >>
http://portal.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2004/09/22/ucat.xml&sSheet=/portal/2004/09/22/ixportaltop.html

Here's his crime:
<snip>

Last year he released two songs, including a re-recording of his 1970s hit Peace Train, in opposition to the war in Iraq.


http://www.sltrib.com/nationworld/ci_2418562

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2004/09/22/singers_plane_is_diverted_to_maine/

[MadProphetMargin]

2. HE'S GOT MOONSHADOWS OF MASS DESTRUCTION!

[Aunt Anti-bush]

3. Thank goodness for Homeland Security, huh?

It's certainly helping me to sleep better knowing Cat Stevens can't enter the country.

Isn't that rediculous. I wonder who's next?

[in_cog_ni_to]

6. Any U.S. citizen who doesn't toe the line is next. Starting Oct. 1.

:scared:
<snip>
''It's also a very sad state of affairs when a man best known as a peace loving pop star can be grouped into the same category Osama Bin Laden just because of his chosen faith,'' the statement said.

Islam drew some negative attention in the late 1980s when he supported the Ayatollah Khomeini's death sentence against Salman Rushdie, author of ''The Satanic Verses.'' Recently, though, Islam has criticized terrorist acts, including the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and the school seizure in Beslan, Russia, earlier this month that left more than 300 dead, nearly half of them children.

In a statement on his Web site, he wrote, ''Crimes against innocent bystanders taken hostage in any circumstance have no foundation whatsoever in the life of Islam and the model example of Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him.''

After the Sept. 11 attacks, Islam issued a statement saying: ''No right thinking follower of Islam could possibly condone such an action: The Quran equates the murder of one innocent person with the murder of the whole of humanity.''<snip>

Riiight, sounds like a terrorist to me. :eyes:

[kayell]

9. The "October Plan" is the most underreported story of the last week

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/09/17/eveningnews/main644096.shtml

FBI field offices and Homeland Security agencies will be advised of "extraordinary measures" that will go into place "beginning the first week of October through the elections."

An internal e-mail advisory to supervisory agents this week from the FBI's "'04 Threat Task Force" said the purpose of the counter-offensive is "to foster the impression that law enforcement is focused on individuals who may be a threat."

Specifically, the plan calls for "aggressive - even obvious - surveillance" techniques to be used on a short list of people suspected of being terrorist sympathizers, but who have not committed a crime. Other "persons of interest," including their family members, may also be brought in for questioning, one source said.

snip

The bureau also knows it can expect to be criticized for the strategy if it goes too far. One element of the plan calls for addressing what some officials fears could be a wave of protests from Arab-Americans and civil libertarians once the so-called "October Plan" kicks off.

[acmavm]

4. The people running this country are the biggest bunch of idiots and

failures in history. You couldn't make this crap up if you tried. So someone who writes songs about peace between nations is on a terrorist watch list? Well allrighty then, what kind of a list would you put the members of the bush* administration on? I suppose you'd have to have a list entitled 'Dangerous lunatic greedy treacherous delusional liars list'.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

5. I wonder who is next

the Dalai Lama?

So far, I haven't heard of any Sufi Pirs or sheihks being denied entry. I do worry about this, however.

It is a sad and shameful time for our country when people are denied entry because of political reasons hiding behind the mask of 'national security'.

[LTR]

7. So, our country considers Cat Stevens to be a terrorist

And Bush doesn't even care about capturing bin Laden.

Lovely. :eyes:

[Wright Patman]

10. Hey, there IS a resemblance

between those two guys. I think several million Americans would have bought the story that this actually was bin Laden detained yesterday.

Some of the fake videos put out since 9-11 have had characters playing bin Laden who didn't look any more like him than Cat Stevens does.

[SHRED]

8. This is absurd

Not letting him in?

That's almost as absurd as him throwing away his musical talent for a set of rules, written ages ago. IMHO.