Adam and Obama

So a man named Adam Albrett (also known as Muhannad Almahmoudi) has threatened Obama's life. Now as much as I deeply dislike Obama's policies, I whole-heartedly reject assassination.

In one of the many articles about this breaking news - Patent Attorney Arrested for Threatening President Obama - it is explained that Mr. Albrett is a patent attorney and CEO of Serenada. Lebanese-born, he came to the US and attended the University of Virginia's law school.

But this is not the first time Mr. Albrett has been unhappy with US policies. He is reported in this story back in 2003 in Electronic Iraq readers flood France with anti-war support as saying

That said, many of those who wrote have never read an article in this newspaper. They wrote in order to address French public opinion, a sort of letter in a bottle. One of them, Adam Albrett of Sunnyvale (California), states that he also wrote to "various organizations in the United States" calling for Jacques Chirac to be awarded the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize

. Basically, Mr. Albrett deeply supported Mr. Chirac's opposition to the Iraqi war. In itself not a sin by any means but one can only imagine his fury at Obama for his various drone attacks and his authorization of assassination of US citizens.

According to the Patent Prospector, Mr. Albrett wrote this "alleged message to the White House":

"THIS IS NOT A JOKE...Inform the FBI, CIA, U.S. Military and DOJ that I am going down to DC to blow the brains out of OBAMA unless he vacates the White House and I am going to shoot up the place and Rham [sic] if I see him... THIS IS NOT A JOKE...I am going to leave Mara at home with water and some food..."

Mr. Albrett's distaste for Obama is clear but he doesn't much like his adopted country either. In January 2009 he wrote a letter to Asia Times Online (scroll down) discussing Israel. It is not out of place for someone with Mr. Albrett's presumed background.

On some days I wish the US had succeeded in Iraq so that Mubarak and King Abdullah II of Jordan could be examples to the rest of the high price to be paid for toeing the line of US/Israeli influence. The price is nothing less than one's rule or crown. Go ahead and let Hamas sink (it won't), but don't complain when you are living out your last days like a kafkaesque cockroach and someone like [senior Fatah official] Mohammed Dahlan or one of his sons lords it over you and your people. Even if Hamas wins it doesn't mean that Arab leaders' authority is secure. The US and Israel will never stop trying to get someone like Dahlan, [Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad] Allawi or one of his sons in power, and their promises to the contrary are just lies that so deepen the pain when their treachery eventually strikes. As Nobel prize winner Bertrand Russell pointed out regarding the limits of inductive thinking, the hand that feeds the chicken every day is the same hand that twists its neck.

He is clearly an intelligent man who has been enraged by Obama's policies. The starting phrase "On some days" implies that on most days he wishes America had failed in Iraq and he ends with stating that the US and Israel's promises "are just lies" and they are planning "treachery".

This letter was written just as Obama was taking office. While Obama is certainly not pro-Israel, it is clear that Mr. Albrett was hoping for a lot more "change" than he got from Obama. He became profoundly disillusioned with Obama's policies and finally snapped.

Mr. Albrett is entitled to his opinions (which I disagree with) and he is entitled to be furious at Obama (which I am as well) but he can not threaten assassination. Period.