Evil in the Peach State

Authorities are revealing more about last week's arrest of a terror cell in Toronto, saying that the 17 men arrested planned to destroy a major Toronto building or buildings (they were caught with an "astonishing and startling amount" of ammonium nitrate, three tons worth) and open fire on crowds in a public venue. What has also been revealed is that two radical Islamists from Georgia, Syed Haris Ahmed (a student at Ga. Tech) and Ehsanul Islam Sadequee, traveled to Canada and met with members of the Toronto cell to discuss possible targets in the United States:

The Americans' meetings in Toronto bolstered intelligence that Canadian authorities had gathered on the Toronto group and played a key role in the arrest of two members of the Toronto group in August as they tried to enter Canada through the Peace Bridge with three loaded handguns, a law enforcement source said Monday.

This is not the first time Georgia has had a connection to terrorism; in early 2001 two of the 9/11 hijackers - including the terror ringleader, Mohammed Atta - did some of their flight training at a private airport in north Georgia not far from where I live and work. It's hard to imagine such evil being in your own backyard - this ain't the slums of Sudan or the hinterlands of Afghanistan - it's Jaw-juh, for crying out loud.

UPDATE: More info about the Toronto cell's terror plans was disclosed today at a court hearing for the suspects:

Spectators and family members of some of the 17 Muslim men accused of plotting terror attacks in Canada were stunned Tuesday when they heard allegations of plans to storm Parliament, take hostages and behead the prime minister.