It’s funny how some horrifying atrocities are quickly forgotten when they represent an extremely unhelpful narrative.
The brother of the suicide bomber who killed 22 people at an Ariana Grande concert was found guilty Tuesday of murder for each of those who died.
Hashem Abedi, 22, was convicted of helping brother Salman Abedi plot and prepare his slaughter at the UK’s Manchester Arena, where seven of the dead were children as young as eight.
Another 237 concertgoers were injured and 670 survivors reported suffering from psychological trauma
He had been in Libya when the attack took place — having earlier help his brother plot, plan and prepare the bloodbath — becoming the first to be successfully extradited to Britain when he was sent back in July 2019.
Libya was at the center of this plot. As was the UK’s unwise policy of bringing in Libyan Islamists.
But the LIFG was just as active in Manchester as it was in Tripoli. Manchester had long been a base for the Islamist terror group. And it comes as little surprise that Ramadan Abedi, the father of Manchester Arena suicide bomber Salman Abedi, currently in Libya, was also allegedly an LIFG member.
Despite LIFG’s blatant affiliation with Al Qaeda, its members were freely able to operate in the UK. Manchester, with its expat Libyan community, was a perfect base for the Islamic terror group.
The British authorities had a complicated relationship with the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group that was conditional not on its terrorism, but on their approach to the Libyan government. The authorities viewed the LIFG as a potential resource when Gaddafi was an enemy despite the group’s ties to Al Qaeda. During that period, its Islamic terrorists were portrayed as political dissidents.
The overthrow of Gaddafi was really set when the Muslim Brothethood cut a supposed deal to turn the LIFG into moderates. We know how that worked out.
Once again, Gaddafi proved surprisingly savvy and adaptable. As Obama rolled out the welcome wagon for the Muslim Brotherhood, he cut a deal with the LIFG and the Muslim Brotherhood. The LIFG renounced its former Al Qaeda ties and became “moderate” Islamists under the Brotherhood.
LIFG Jihadists from Gitmo and the UK who had been turned over to Gaddafi were freed. But when the Muslim Brotherhood was unable to take over countries “legally”, it turned to violence. And Obama was eager to lend military aid to its efforts. The LIFG quickly switched back to a Jihadist insurgency and Libya fell into the hands of Jihadi organizations whose names were many, but who often had an LIFG link.
Libya fell. But so did the Manchester Arena.
Salman’s brother isn’t the only one with blood on his hands. So do British authorities.
In the months before weeping little girls with nails in their faces were carried out of the Manchester Arena, the authorities of that city were hard at work fighting the dreaded threat of Islamophobia.
While Salman Abedi, the second-generation Muslim refugee terrorist who maimed and killed dozens in a brutal terrorist attack, stalked the streets wailing, “There is no god but Allah and Mohammed is the messenger of Allah”, Manchester police were busy with more important things.
The Greater Manchester Police are one of only two police forces to list Islamophobia as a hate crime category.
Earlier this year, Chief Constable Ian Hopkins honored Tell Mama for fighting Islamophobia. Tell Mama had lost funding earlier when its claims of a plague of violent Islamophobia fell apart.
Shahid Malik, the chair of Tell Mama, had been photographed with the leader of Hamas. Appearing at the Global Peace and Unity conference, where plenty of terrorism supporters have promenaded, he boasted, “In 2005 we had four Muslim MPs. In 2009 or 2010 we’ll have eight or ten Muslim MPs. In 2014 we’ll have 16 Muslim MPs. At this rate the whole parliament will be Muslim.”
Last year, Hopkins had appeared at a Muslim Engagement and Development (MEND) event at the European Islamic Centre along with Azad Ali. Ali has praised Anwar Al-Awlaki and other Al Qaeda figures. He justified the murder of British and American soldiers, he praised Hamas and Hezbollah.
Instead of arresting him, the Chief Constable appeared at the same forum with a terrorist supporter.
Don’t look for any of these folks to go to prison.
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