Two Iraqi Men Arrested in KY for Attempting to Send Weapons and Money to al-Qaida
- Posted on June 1, 2011 at 12:01am by
Billy Hallowell
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Mohanad Shareef Hammadi (left) and Waad Ramadan Alwan (right).
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Two Iraqi men living as refugees in Kentucky tried to send sniper rifles, Stinger missiles and money to al-Qaida operatives in their home country, and both boasted of using improvised explosives against American troops there before moving to the U.S., according to court documents unsealed Tuesday.
Thirty-year-old Waad Ramadan Alwan and 23-year-old Mohanad Shareef Hammadi, both of Bowling Green, were arrested last week after an investigation that began months after they arrived in the U.S. in 2009. Neither is charged with plotting attacks within the United States, and authorities said their weapons and money didn’t make it to Iraq because of a tightly controlled undercover investigation.
Alwan is charged with conspiracy to kill a United States national, conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction and attempting to provide material support to terrorists. Hammadi is charged with attempting to provide material support to terrorists and knowingly transferring, possession or exporting a device designed or intended to launch or guide a rocket or missile.
The FBI said in an affidavit that Alwan told an informant that he took part in insurgent attacks on U.S. troops in Iraq using both improvised explosive devices and a sniper rifle, saying “lunch and dinner would be an American.” Court documents say Hammadi also told an informant he planted improvised explosives in Iraq.
The men pleaded not guilty to the charges during a preliminary hearing Tuesday, and they’re in federal custody pending a detention hearing.
The criminal complaints against the two men say they entered the United States legally in April 2009 and had refugee status. By late 2010, Alwan had told the informant he wanted to help terrorists in Iraq, and he recruited Hammadi early this year, authorities said. They are accused of trying to send the rifles, missiles and C4 plastic explosives to Iraq.
Federal prosecutors and the FBI declined to say how the two men were able to enter the country as refugees, or what they were doing in Bowling Green, a city of 60,000. State officials said at least 253 Iraqi refugees have moved to the city since 2008 but wouldn‘t comment on whether the state’s refugee office dealt with the suspects.
“Perhaps they just thought it was a lovely community,” said FBI Special Agent in Charge Elizabeth Fries, who declined to say what the men did for a living.
A Department of Homeland Security official, who requested anonymity because the investigation is ongoing, said Alwan and Hammadi slipped through gaps in the immigration vetting system that have since been filled. The official said the agency now checks people repeatedly as new information becomes available.
Their arrests come after FBI Director Robert Mueller said in February that his agency was taking a fresh look at Iraqi nationals in the U.S. who had ties to al-Qaida’s offshoot in Iraq. The group had not previously been considered a threat in the U.S.
Hammadi’s court-appointed attorney, James Earhart of Louisville, said he doesn‘t know much about the case beyond what’s in the criminal complaint.
“I haven’t had a chance to sit down and talk with him yet,” he said.
Federal Public Defender Scott Wendelsdorf, who represents Alwan, declined comment.
No one answered the door Tuesday afternoon when a reporter went to Alwan‘s and Hammadi’s listed addresses in Bowling Green.
Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said the government is trying to find out more about Alwan and Hammadi but currently has no information.
Court documents say the probe of Alwan began in September 2009, five months after he’d come to the U.S. Late the next year, authorities started using an informant to record conversations with him.
According to the criminal complaints, Alwan told the informant he was involved in insurgent attacks in Iraq from 2003 until 2006. The FBI said Alwan drew diagrams of four types of improvised explosive devices, or IEDs, for the informant.
In January, investigators identified fingerprints belonging to Alwan on a component of an unexploded IED that was recovered by U.S. forces in Iraq in 2005, the FBI said.
The informant told Alwan that he worked for groups that received money from Osama bin Laden and was planning to send money and weapons to Iraq in secret compartments on cars.
The criminal complaints say that in January, Alwan recruited Hammadi to assist him, describing the younger Iraqi to the informant as a relative whose work as an insurgent was well known. Later that month, Alwan and Hammadi allegedly delivered money to a tractor-trailer, believing the money would ultimately be shipped to al-Qaida in Iraq. They later helped delivered weapons that included two Stinger missiles, authorities say.
“In reality, these weapons and money never made it outside of Kentucky,” Fries said.
Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear said state officials have known about the investigation for several weeks, but declined further comment.



















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Comments (180)
Rob
Posted on June 1, 2011 at 7:10amYou all let them in…. and will keep doing so.
Report Post »streetrodder
Posted on June 1, 2011 at 6:39amThese 2 must have sneeked past the TSA while they were feeling up a 6 year old girl.
Report Post »ThoreauHD
Posted on June 1, 2011 at 6:57amOuch. You‘ll hurt Butchy Napolitano’s feelings.
Report Post »Dio fan
Posted on June 1, 2011 at 4:06pmLOL! Yeah they probably couldn‘t even look at them because they had already hit their middle eastern ’profiling quota’ for the day.
Report Post »I no longer fly anywhere!
LadyIzShy
Posted on June 1, 2011 at 6:27amagain the peaceful loving religion.. if Christains did this the news would be EXPLODING but nothing..
Report Post »Karama
Posted on June 1, 2011 at 6:15amThese two haven’t been listening to the Lame Stream Media there is no Al Qaida presence in Iraq. There isn’t one here in the states especially not in redneck fly over Kentucky.
Report Post »SummerB
Posted on June 1, 2011 at 4:48am“FBI Special Agent in Charge Elizabeth Fries … who declined to say what the men did for a living.”
Why???
Report Post »Meyvn
Posted on June 1, 2011 at 5:13amGood question. I would like to know what they did for a living.
Report Post »NOTAMUSHROOM
Posted on June 1, 2011 at 5:33amNo doubt they collected free taxpayer money from our government.
Here’s the big problem: THERE’S 253 MORE OF THEM IN BOWLING GREEN!!!!!!! WTF???HELLLLLOOOOOOO!!!!!!!
Report Post »PingPongPing
Posted on June 1, 2011 at 4:43amnot sure if taking them to a prison would do justice in their case, since most of them would only proselytize other inmates into their religion….
I would deport them back and let our troops do them…
Report Post »POdVet
Posted on June 1, 2011 at 4:33amMaybe this is why they claim they are so sure terrorists are not coming across the southern border illegally. They are letting them in the front door!
Report Post »Psychosis
Posted on June 1, 2011 at 3:45amederal prosecutors and the FBI declined to say how the two men were able to enter the country as refugees, or what they were doing in Bowling Green, a city of 60,000. State officials said at least 253 Iraqi refugees have moved to the city since 2008 but wouldn‘t comment on whether the state’s refugee office dealt with the suspects.
this administration just spent 20 million to help hamas refugees enter the country, get housing and financial aid and welfare……………..of course they know how they got here
Report Post »SilentReader
Posted on June 1, 2011 at 3:36amThese miscreants should be prosecuted as war criminals.
The extent of their utter depravity is beyond human comprehension.
Report Post »Diane TX
Posted on June 1, 2011 at 3:28amJust common sense, but shouldn’t someone who is tying to enter the USA, who declares theirself to be a Muslim, be heavily scrutinized, before being allowed entry? Why are we patting down 18 month old babies, and grandma at the airport?
Report Post »Fight for America
Posted on June 1, 2011 at 3:08amNice Irish boys no doubt. Like a profiler wouldn’t have figured out if their intent was good or bad.
Nice peaceful loving Muslims, yah right.
Wake up America.
Report Post »riseandshine
Posted on June 1, 2011 at 3:06amNothing like government enabled patsies to promote change.
Report Post »riseandshine
Posted on June 1, 2011 at 3:23amCould be wrong, but after 9/11, I don’t trust anything the government says.
Report Post »Dio fan
Posted on June 1, 2011 at 4:02pmHey people LOOK BETWEEN THE LINES HERE! First of all I don’t for one second question their guilt, and I am not taking their side.
However, does anyone else see that they purchased weapons HERE to send to IRAQ?! It seems to me that if they were ‘terrorists’ they would be bringing weapons from IRAQ to HERE.
They were sending these weapons OUT of the USA, and showing no intent of using them here, even though they had them here where we are fat juicy targets, which speaks volumes of their intent.
Has anyone considered this is a war, that some Iraqi’s are patriotic to their homeland and are dead set on defending it (doing what little they can) against a tyrannical overthrow, and occupation?
Prisoners of war yes…Terrorists- I just don’t see it here in this story.
How would Americans react to China overthrowing our nation, and occupying it? What would an American patriot do? How would you go up against the #1 military in the world? A toe to toe contest would last about half a second when all you have are improvised weapons, and surplus junk.
Report Post »Guerrilla warfare is all they’ve got, and we ourselves would have never defeated England in the Revolutionary War without using these same tactics.
I find it interesting that we keep promoting weapons deals to Mexican drug cartels, and now this? How much are we not told about? Do they ever publish a story about those that got away?
If the US Government wanted to stop this then a good start would be to SECURE OUR SOUTHERN BOR
Sunnyr
Posted on June 1, 2011 at 2:43amI hope these dirtbags are tried for TREASON and executed! And WHY are we letting a constant flow of Muslims into our country? Most of them are NOT TRUSTWORTHY! Especially the loon in the White House!
Report Post »commonsenseguy
Posted on June 1, 2011 at 2:39amthey can not enplane how the got here a refugees or into Kentucky,but they might have thought bowling green was a nice place to live , my ass, this is who this administration is protecting,killers, they let them come over here give them free room and board, a small business loan, and a check, to do what , kill Americans ,this administration should be help for treason and murder, they have allowed people like these two to kill Americans and then let them come over here and live free. damn, i am tired of this crap, when will Americans wake up to these left wing, anti American, nut jobs
Report Post »they will get off,and be deported back to Iraq,and then, be able to become refugees again.hell i bet they have a lottery ,just like they have for the illegals from mexico.
saviorammo
Posted on June 1, 2011 at 2:34amGreat, two freak’n Iraqi retardees. Now what about the Pakis, Afganis, Sudanese, Iranians who have been here for over 30yrs, Turks, Syrians, Egyptians, Libyians, Chicoms, Ruskies, Beaners, El Salvadorians, etc.
We are so screwed and to think our government has paid or encouraged a lot of this crap. It will be up to us to clean up the mess. If there is anything left to clean up.
These two should be in my new reality t.v. show. PIG FOOD!
Report Post »Teaparty-grammy
Posted on June 1, 2011 at 12:50pmHey, folks, here in ArkanSAW the govt. is importing a bunch of ignorant, diseased SOMALIS to work in Tyson chicken plants! I kid you not. Providing them with homes and cars. And in return they are rude, pushy and arrogant and HATE US. Oh, yeah, and they bring in fun diseases like TB and leprosy–now THOSE are just the people we want handling our food, right?
Every time I go to Wal-Mart I see these “people” shopping there, on our dime, wearing their Talabags and gibbering in Somali. Do we have a great government, or what?
Report Post »Jwmajic
Posted on June 1, 2011 at 2:33pmReply to Teaparty-grammy
Report Post »Are they not getting enough border jumping Mexicans there?
264win
Posted on June 1, 2011 at 2:30amOne more reason not to profile people at the ariport. Keep feeling up 90 year old white women.
Not all muslims are terroist……..but all terroist are muslims!!! over 90% of the time!
More diversity!
Report Post »jolee
Posted on June 1, 2011 at 1:57amPerry/West 2012. God Bless America
Report Post »riseandshine
Posted on June 1, 2011 at 1:32amAl-CIAda
Report Post »afellowpatriot
Posted on June 1, 2011 at 1:31amAnother one off event? Nothing to see here? Eric…can you spell R A D I C A L ?
Report Post »JohnBirch
Posted on June 1, 2011 at 1:29amBoth are very trustworthy looking types.
Report Post »I can see how they got past Janet & crew,
afellowpatriot
Posted on June 1, 2011 at 1:32amMade me laugh!!! Thanks JB.
Report Post »Brae
Posted on June 1, 2011 at 2:59amIt is hard laughing at reality sometimes~ but LOL
Report Post »peterson
Posted on June 1, 2011 at 4:17pm“Alwan and Hammadi slipped through gaps in the immigration vetting system that have since been filled.” Sure, those gaps have been filled….suuurrrre – wink, wink…
Report Post »loadingmyclips
Posted on June 2, 2011 at 9:13amobviosly a case of racial profiling.
Report Post »The Servant-Messenger-Prophet
Posted on June 2, 2011 at 9:44amI Have To Agree With Republicorp In That They Were More Than Likely Set Up And Also I Am Leary Of The Comment On Their Job Status. I Think Maybe The Govt. Provided Them With A Job Or Some Kind Of Support Monies And Now Doesn’t Want This To Get Out To The Public! I Used To Trust The Govt. Explicitly But My Eyes have Been Opened In The Last 20 Years As To How The Really Operate And They Leave Me Ashamed. This Includes The Covert And Unconscionable Actions Of All Our Politicians Seated In Office Today? I Am Truly Ashamed Of Their Shenanigans! It Is Written That Our Politicians Are Unlike Other Countries Representatives In That They Reward When There Is No Call For A Reward!
Report Post »Captain Crunch
Posted on June 1, 2011 at 1:22amI’m just thankful the DOJ is still trying and succeeding in busting these people. I’m sure they will be happy in the federal prison system with their other like minded islamo idiots. And I’m sure they will be very unwelcomed by the Aryan Brotherhood.
Report Post »Ron_WA
Posted on June 1, 2011 at 1:18amSlipped thru gaps in the in the immigration vetting system” HA! – so dang glad the Dept of Homeland Insecurity doesn’t “profile” to vet or give extra scrutiny to Arab male 16-49! That’s workin’ out well!
No reason to suspect Iraq was a breeding ground for terrorists or anything … no reason to root go into Iraq & root them out … Idjiots!
Report Post »rachany
Posted on June 1, 2011 at 1:16amLet’s give them a vacation at Club Gitmo courtesy of the American infidels!!
Report Post »Or even better, let’s send them to have a nice conversation at one of those Rendition Hotels in a friendly arab country where they will treat them well!!!
Zone Read
Posted on June 1, 2011 at 1:07amHi-Ho Hi-Ho It’s off to Guantanamo they go.
Report Post »CatB
Posted on June 1, 2011 at 3:13amI thought Obama was going to close Gitmo down … oh that’s right .. he said that during the election .. not in “real life” .. .
Report Post »tinydd
Posted on June 1, 2011 at 7:25amGee, I wonder what China would do with these guys? Oh yeah, put a bullet in the back of their head and then send their family a bill for the bullet. Funny that China doesn’t have many problems with terrorismm now do they? In West China they do have a large Muslim population thanks to their border being close to all the “stans” countries, of course if the Muslims get out of hand, the military usually takes care of it quickly and no, not with rubber bullets or water cannons….
Report Post »Navyveteran
Posted on June 1, 2011 at 6:34pmWhere can I buy stinger missles? Where did they go to get stinger missles, is the army and marines selling that stuff wholesale or what?
Report Post »JoeAmerica
Posted on June 1, 2011 at 1:03amI thought that was what the ATF was for.
Report Post »Eric_The_Red_State
Posted on June 1, 2011 at 1:15amI
Report Post »think
that
the
Blaze
ought
to
fix
the
problem
with
the
HTML
layout
of
the
web
page
so
it
doesn’t
take
someone
a
sliderule
to
read
the
darned
thing
RepubliCorp
Posted on June 1, 2011 at 1:23amThe ATF sold them the stuff
Report Post »Captain Crunch
Posted on June 1, 2011 at 1:24am@Eric_The_Red_State
Turn on SSL 2.0 under advanced internet options. Worked for me.
Report Post »thebarbarian
Posted on June 1, 2011 at 2:00amtime to stretch a couple of necks after the hot pork grease bath.
Report Post »chalkdust
Posted on June 1, 2011 at 2:37amShut the front door. Two middle eastern men supporting kinetic-man-caused-disastorists? Can’t be true.
Report Post »CatB
Posted on June 1, 2011 at 3:11amThey need to “lock the door” to the country and keep out the terrorists.
Report Post »Showtime
Posted on June 1, 2011 at 3:40amOUTRAGEOUS! This from TPN:
Federal authorities have indicted two Iraqi immigrants on terrorism charges. Ramadan Alwan, age 30 and Mohanad Shareef Hammadi, age 23, both entered this country in 2009.
Alwan is charged with conspiracy to use improvised explosive devices and sniping against American forces in Iraq. He was an insurgent and he used WMDs against American troops in Iraq.
Alwan confessed to being an insurgent in Iraq from 2003 until 2006, when Iraqi forces CAPTURED him. Someone in the government needs to explain how a confessed terrorist, fighting American troops in Iraq is allowed to immigrate to this country?
Two of Alwan’s fingerprints were found on components of an unexploded improvised explosive devise. Does the government not check the fingerprints of potential immigrants? How in the hell did this guy get into the country?
Todd Hinnen, the Acting AG for National Security said, “Over the course of roughly eight years, Waad Ramadan Alwan allegedly supported efforts to kill U.S. troops in Iraq, first by participating in the construction and placement of improvised explosive devices in Iraq, and more recently by attempting to ship money and weapons from the United States to insurgents in Iraq.”
This is unbelievable. The two Iraqis were arrested in Bowling Green, Kentucky, which is less than fifty miles from the famed Ft. Campbell Army base, home of the 101st Airborne.
Report Post »Showtime
Posted on June 1, 2011 at 3:48amJoe, if it weren’t so sad about the ATF, that would be hysterical! Not sure “sad” is the right word. Maybe disgusting? Outrageous? Unbelievable? Incompetent? All of the above?
Report Post »searching for the Truth
Posted on June 1, 2011 at 4:30amYou have most probably gone to a site that has compromised your computer. Yes, I have. the answer to second.
Report Post »searching for the Truth
Posted on June 1, 2011 at 4:37amAnd, yes they can, answer to the third.
Report Post »Sheepdog911
Posted on June 1, 2011 at 6:23am@ Joe and Show. News alert, FBI and ICE have jurisdiction over this stuff, not ATF.
Report Post »PatriotsLikeMe
Posted on June 1, 2011 at 6:41amUnbelievable! Send ‘em to Gitmo and execute ’em. Period. I’m over being Ms. Nice Guy. NEXT!!!
Report Post »Ruler4You
Posted on June 1, 2011 at 6:45amWho could have guessed that this would happen?
Report Post »Thatsitivehadenough
Posted on June 1, 2011 at 7:02amRefuges?
Report Post »rangerp
Posted on June 1, 2011 at 7:36amDuring deployments to Afghanistan and Iraq, I had interpreters that wanted help getting to the U.S. I am not comfortable helping any Muslim move here, and would prefer the ones that are here move elsewhere. I believe in freedom of religion, but Islam is not a religion, it is a system to control masses of people. 500 years after the death, burial, and resurrection of the Truth, a liar proclaimed that he went out into the desert and a 600 wing angel gave him a new truth. He was a liar from the start, and his lies continue to spread. He married a six year old girl and consummated that marriage when she was nine. Their false prophet was a pedophile, a liar, and a murderer. His (Muhammad) made up religion made him mega rich, and it was spread by the sword and the tip of the spear. Nothing good will come from having Islam in America.
Report Post »kentuckypatriot
Posted on June 1, 2011 at 7:36amgulp……. this is a little too close for me! I wonder why the hell these terrorists even get an attorney. Send them to Gitmo now, or beter yet, shoot ‘em.
Report Post »chazman
Posted on June 1, 2011 at 7:39am‘ … slipped through gaps in the immigration vetting system.‘ Damn federal government can’t do anything right, and because of their incompetence, Americans are going to die!
Report Post »HillBillySam1
Posted on June 1, 2011 at 8:30am“Perhaps they just thought it was a lovely community”……it is a very lovely community…..I live 60 miles Northwest of Bowling Green and go there quite a bit……about 4 years ago they built them a very, very nice mosque in Bowling Green…..about a mile from Western Kentucky University…..I mentioned to my wife that I wondered if there would be any “radicalization” occuring there….it seems that some of the “natives” have bought into it….but I guess I’m just a “hater”…….perhaps Homeland Security could keep a better eye on these things if they weren’t so tied up watching out for those ultra-violent Tea Party people…..
Report Post »Stuck_in_CA
Posted on June 1, 2011 at 8:43amWe let in over a million LEGAL people each year. That’s way too many, IMHO.
Report Post »WHY are we letting pukes like this in, at all???
TomFerrari
Posted on June 1, 2011 at 10:04amBHO: Nothing to see here, folks, just a lone wolf – ignore this – move on. The economy is doing great! I killed bin laden single-handedly. There is no inflation! Republicans want to kill all the old people. Did I mention I killed bin laden single-handedly?!
Just how many ‘lone wolfseseseses’ is this? And the Dems want to HACK military spending and raise taxes?
Honestly, does Obama and these socialist-fascists now just look at the right thing to do and take the opposite stance REGARDLESS of what it may be or what its ramifications may be? Are they that desperate to differentiate themselves from conservatives?
Report Post »Cemoto78
Posted on June 1, 2011 at 10:21amGet a rope, I’m tired of these enemies attacking us from within.
Report Post »Ron Morris
Posted on June 1, 2011 at 10:50amAmerica,Don’t worry their will be more Muslims sneaking into the United States of America at the Mexico
Report Post »border.
Don;t worry America not all Muslims sneaking into the USA from Mexico are TERRORISTS????
Remember America,Napolotino and Dictator Barack Hussein Obama,said that our south border is more secure than ever!!!!
Don’t worry about anything,Dictator Barack Hussein Obama and his Mexican-Muslim Loving Administration,
will take care of everything,(GO BACK TO SLEEP AMERICA THERE IS NOTHING TO WORRY ABOUT)!!
All of these Mexicans and Muslims ILLEGAL ALEIN INVADERS WILL MAKE GOOD CITIZENS,THESE
PEOPLE ONLY WANT TO COLLECT AMERICAN ENTITLEMENTS AND LIVE THE GOOD LIFE!!!!!
(OBAMA NEEDS ALL OF THE VOTES THAT HE CAN GET)!!!!!
Wake the HELL UP AMERICA,Can’t you see what this Obama Administration is doing to our America????
This Dictator (TEFLON-OBAMA), Should be IMPEACHED NOW,HE and his complete Administration is out to turn our Republic into a MARXIST,SOCIALIST,COMMUNIST,“OPEN SOCIETY”-“NEW WORLD ORDER”!!
Hope you all like ISLAM,SHARIA-LAW,THE KORAN,THE MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD,AND A MUSLIM MOSQUE ON EVERY CORNER,This is what we will have in America if this Dictator OBAMA gets a second term!!!!!
PLEASE WAKE THE HELL UP AMERICA,IMPEACH THIS DICTATOR NOW,GET RID OF THIS ADMINISTRATION!!!!!
FOR EVIL TO FLOURISH,ALL THAT IS NEEDED IS FOR GOOD AMERICAN PEOPLE TO DO NOTHING!!!
GOD BLESS AMERICA.
drattastic
Posted on June 1, 2011 at 10:56am@CEMO
Report Post »Hell the enemy is running the place, where do we start? Fox in charge of the hen house.
Ethereal
Posted on June 1, 2011 at 12:37pmYou file for refugee status then conspire against the country that let you in…execute them. Execute them now!
Report Post »Ghandi was a Republican
Posted on June 1, 2011 at 1:10pmHey Eric– Did it ever occur to you that it’s a problem is with your browser? Nobody knows what html problem you are talking about. Check some settings~!
Report Post »chazman
Posted on June 1, 2011 at 10:54pm‘Islamic dead men walkin…’ if they end up in a fed prison justice will be served. A carton of Camel cigs will get the job done. No more muslim cowards to be concerned about …
Report Post »bpitas
Posted on June 2, 2011 at 1:20pm@Captain Crunch:
Report Post »SSL is “Secure Socket Layer” and has nothing to do with layout, so that’s probably not what fixed it.
@Ghandi was a Republican:
There definitely is an issue with the website layout for users of IE8 – if you single-click anywhere, the page scrolls to a seemingly random place in the article/comments. Also, in Safari on an iPhone4, the page usually loads with the text up top overlapping itself making it unreadible. Reloading the page on the iPhone makes it readible, but doesn’t fix the random scrolling. There is definitely an issue on the site, it’s not a browser issue.