As a former newspaper editor and reporter I am always intrigued at the decisions made by editors and reporters in the placement and writing of stories.
In a recent issue of the New York Times a chilling story appeared buried on page 15 that, in my opinion, deserved far more prominence than it received. I suppose I should have registered my complaint with the official Times ombudsman, but then if it was heeded at all it would have been relegated to the limbo of a journalistic slush pile.
The story dealt with the disclosure that three naturalized American Muslims who had planned to become suicide bombers and bomb the New York subway system were recruited by Saleh al-Somali and Rashid Rauf, key Al Qaeda operatives killed by a drone attack in Pakistan. The recruited men had been High School buddies in Queens, a borough of New York City who went off to Pakistan for the purposes of being trained by Al Qaeda to carry out their deadly suicide mission.
As a regular user of the New York subway system, the evil purpose of these men is beyond imagining. If one is not in permanent denial, horrific images of death and destruction surely must periodically assail many of the passengers that use this system.
I often observe my fellow passengers, workers, students, executives, parents, children, babies, people of every color, gender and age going about the business of their daily lives in this remarkable city of energy and diversity. For me, it is impossible to avoid a “what if” scenario with a heavy heart and deep anger. Why? It is unthinkable. Can these people be categorized as fellow human beings? Not in my book.
We can be thankful that these monsters have been caught. But one wonders how many other, misguided young men and women are being recruited as we speak to perform such loathsome acts of murder.
One wonders, too, about the enormous costs that must be expended in surveillance and preventive activities required to counter and expose these bloody-minded conspiracies. Indeed, officials continue to warn us that no matter how much money and manpower is expended in surveillance, it is inevitable that an event will fall through the cracks and wreak havoc on vast numbers of innocent victims.
What struck me as going beyond the pale of logic and reason was the motivation that stirred these young man to commit suicide while killing what might have been hundreds of their fellow Americans.
The story in the Times revealed that in pleading guilty one of the co-conspirators Zarein Ahdmedzay, a sad 25 year old, gave his reasons for the bomb plot. He told the court that a Zionist conspiracy represents a greater threat to the United States than Al Qaeda.
“And I believe,” he told the court “that the real enemies of this country are the special group, the Zionist Jews, I believe, who want a permanent shadow government within the government of the United States.”
Was this the befuddled reasoning why this young man was willing to do away with himself and a group of innocent people from every walk of life? Is this tired old false anti-Sematic cliché the reason for his joining Al Qaeda?
Has Al Qaeda co-opted these Nazi ideas to recruit Muslim young men to join its cause and toss away their lives and the lives of others? One sees how the sinister wheels of Bin Laden’s army have co-opted the techniques of the Nazis to fire up its members.
Of all the stories in the New York Times that day, the very idea of blowing up the New York subway system and the mad reasons given would have been my choice for the front page. As much as we hate to confront this issue, stark reminders help put us on our guard and reinforce our determination to resist these monstrous people.
Was there any other story in the Times that day more important than this one? Not to this New Yorker.
Mr. Adler is the author of 30 books including novels such as 
April 27th, 2010 at 9:34 pm
It was buried because it holds no political advantage to post it closer. It’s all about power, whether it be politics, religion… everything. Power, control, and the desire for such…
As someone who works in a city many believe is a prime target (Seattle), every time I hear news stories of these fanatics slipping through the cracks, I fear a little more each day.
And yet it remains on page 15.