Counter-Terrorists Win! The Justice Department recently was able to successfully conclude the matter of al Qaeda operative Zacarias Moussaoui: he pleaded guilty to all counts. But you probably knew that. It is, however less likely that you knew about a few other counter-terrorism successes that the Justice Department has had in convicting people in open court.
Yesterday, a British citizen Hemant Lakhani was found guilty on five counts of trading in illegal weapons, provideing material support to terrorists, money laundering, and other charges. He tried to sell 50 shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles to government agents who told him they wanted to shoot down commercial aircraft in commemoration of the attack on Sept, 11th 2001
Lakhani, 69, was arrested in 2003 at a hotel room near Newark Airport after getting caught in a sting operation in which undercover operatives posed as terrorists and arms dealers.
A few days ago, an American Islamic scholar, Ali al-Timimi, was convicted on 10 counts of encouraging
followers in the days after the Sept. 11 attacks to join the Taliban and fight U.S. troops.
And the whole free speech defense didn't do him any good at all.
The three followers who testified against al-Timimi have all struck plea bargains, and the defense contended they were lying in the hopes that prosecutors will reduce their sentences.
Al-Timimi's lawyers also disputed the notion that the men were his followers and contended that he merely suggested migration to a Muslim nation because it might be difficult to practice Islam in the U.S. after Sept. 11.
Finally, the defense contended the prosecution of al-Timimi was an assault on his religious and free-speech rights.
The group Free Muslims Against Terrorism applauded the conviction. While
many of the Muslim "leaders" in Washington, D.C., have come to the defense of Tamimi by arguing that his conviction was nothing more than a witch hunt and that he was merely a "Muslim scholar" exercising his rights to free speech.
The Free Muslims Against Terrorism do not share these beliefs. Ali Al-Tamimi is a well known extremist and he represents everything that has gone wrong with the Muslim world. His evil words have cast a dark cloud over the rest of the Muslim community and we are glad that justice was served.
The Free Muslims Against Terrorism have argued time and time again that the Muslim community must not tolerate people like Ali Al-Tamimi. We strongly urge American Muslim organizations to read the poison that Al-Tamimi has spread in the Muslim community and not assume that he was unjustly accused. He is an evil man and Muslims must not wait on federal authorities to remove evil doers like Tamimi from our community. Moderate Moslems must take the initiative and discredit people like Tamimi.
Tru dat
Dissention in the ranks Publius Pundit reports on dissenters in Syria and Belarus, the New York Times reports on unrest in Egypt. Can you guess what the common theme is?
That's right, Democracy.
