Infinite MonkeysJose Padilla, the wanna-be "dirty bomber" has been found guilty on all charges in his terrorism trial. Padilla and two co-conspirators were convicted of being part of a North American support cell that provided supplies, money and recruits to groups of Islamic extremists overseas. Of note: Padilla was not convicted of being an al-Qaida operative or of trying to construct and detonate a dirty bomb. Indeed, the government never brought those charges against him.
The fact that the government knew it would have trouble convicting him of being an actual terrorist points to the folly of fighting the war on terror in our courts. The burden of proof, and the protections of the court -- namely how it exposes this country's anti-terror tactics -- are too difficult to deal with. We are fortunate that the government was able to get a conviction of this serious threat to Americans on the charges they did, and Padilla faces maybe 30 years or so in prison -- not good enough by my lights.
Anyway, I love the way the Associated Press, ever skeptical of this "war," frames the story in the lead:
MIAMI — Jose Padilla was convicted of federal terrorism support charges Thursday after being held for 3 1/2 years as an enemy combatant in a case that came to symbolize the Bush administration's campaign to stop homegrown terror.
Looks like that detention was justified. And, yes. This case only "symbolizes" the "Bush administration's" nutty "campaign" to ... I dunno, prevent the slaughter of thousands of innocents. Can't be real. Nothing to see here. Move along.
Posted by Dr. Zaius at August 16, 2007 10:00 PM