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Born in Pakistan, Shahzad is a naturalized US citizen with a University of Bridgeport, CT bachelor's degree in computer science and engineering as well as an MBA. Before resigning in mid-2009, he worked as a junior financial analyst for Affinion Group (a marketing services company) in Norwalk, CT. Authorities said he was unemployed at the time of his arrest. They also said he confessed and is cooperating. He's yet to be arraigned in court.
Since the May 1 incident, The Times headlined numerous feature stories, including on May 5 by writers Mark Massetti and Scott Shane called "Evidence Mounts for Taliban Role in Car Bomb Plot," saying:
"American officials said Wednesday that it is very likely that a radical group (the Taliban) once thought unable to attack the United States played a role in the bombing attempt in Times Square, elevating concerns about whether other militant groups could deliver at least a glancing blow on American soil."
Remember that blaming bin Laden and Al Qaeda for 9/11, and the Taliban for sheltering them, became justification for attacking and invading Afghanistan, then Iraq 18 months later based on bogus weapons of mass destruction claims and suggesting Saddam's involvement in 9/11.
Today, the Obama administration "cautions" about the Pakistani Taliban's involvement with Shahzad, one step short of accusing them, Al Qaeda, and other so-called terrorist groups (including Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Muhammad, the Haqqani Network, and Kashmiri elements) to have pretext for stepped up war and increased homeland crackdowns, for sure coming with the public being manipulated to accept them.
Pakistani Taliban spokesperson Azam Tariq, however, claimed no involvement in the Times Square incident or information about the video claiming it. "We don't even know (Shahzad)," he said. Pakistani (ISI) intelligence officials also expressed skepticism about the Taliban's ability to attack America.
No matter, according to a May 9 AP report headlined, "Pakistani Taliban Behind Times Sq. Plot, Holder Says," quoting the Attorney General claiming it was "intimately involved" in the May 1 incident. They "directed the plot," he said on NBC's "Meet the Press" and ABC's "This Week."
That despite an unnamed Islamabad-based Western diplomat telling CBS News that "The Taliban have no demonstrated ability to strike distant places. Structurally, they are far from being a global organization like Al Qaeda," that's, in fact, a 1980s CIA creation - "Islamic brigade" (mujahideen) freedom fighters against the Soviets in Afghanistan. Today, they're America's "outside enemy," terrorists against "democratic freedoms" and the rationale for imperial wars and repressive homeland security.
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