American born terrorists that the Joint Terrorism Task Force claims were planning on joining al-Qaeda in Afghanistan to fight against the United States were chaged with several terrorist crimes. Authorities claim that the suspects converted to Islam and planned to join after the 911 terrorist attacks against the United States. The arrests, John Ashcroft said, represent "a texbook example" of cooperation among federal, state and local authorities in the war against terrorism and called it a "defining day" in the fight against terrorism. These actions come after months of pResident Bush has pushed for a fullscale attack on Iraq to overthrow the government that Bush has claimed has backed al-Qaeda financially and with weapons. FBI Director Robert Mueller told reporters that "those who support terrorism or acts of terrorism will be brought to justice." On Thursday, October 3, 2002, a federal grand jury in Portland, Oregon, indicted JEFFREY LEON BATTLE aka Ahmad Ali and Abu Isa, PATRICE LUMUMBA FORD aka Lumumba, AHMED IBRAHIM BILAL, MUHAMMAD IBRAHIM BILAL, HABIS ABDULLA AL SAOUB aka Abu Tarek, and OCTOBER MARTINIQUE LEWIS aka Khadijah. An indictment is a formal method of bringing charges, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty. All six people face the following charges:

• Conspiracy to Levy War Against the United States
• Conspiracy to Provide Material Support and Resources to Al-Qaida
• Conspiracy to Contribute Services to Al-Qaida and the Taliban

BATTLE, FORD, AL SAOUB and A. BILAL each face a fourth charge:

• Possessing Firearms in Furtherance of Crimes of Violence

Is this move another attempt to boost patriotism (aka nationalism) to support an unjust war against Iraq? The FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force includes members from: Portland Police Bureau; Beaverton Police Department; Oregon State Police; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms; the Drug Enforcement Administration; the Immigration and Naturalization Service; the Internal Revenue Service; the U.S. Postal Service; the U.S. Secret Service; the U.S. Marshals Service; the U.S. Department of Agriculture; and the U.S. Customs Service.