Jihad in Ohio Update

Yesterday afternoon, Attorney General Gonzales addressed the indictment and arrest of three jihadis operating out of Toledo Ohio. The description of what these men were doing and planning is chilling:

The three defendants educated themselves on how to make and use explosives and suicide bomb vests. The materials included both plastic explosives and nitroglycerine.

The three carried out their own jihad military exercises, which included the use of firearms and the shooting of weapons; one sought mortar training.

The three defendants also conspired to provide material support, including money, training, communications equipment, computers or personnel, including themselves, to co-conspirators in the Middle East.

The three also planned to use a business to justify travel to Iraq and conspired to establish a dummy nonprofit tax education organization to raise funds for the jihad.

Amawi also downloaded a video from a mujahideen website which included step-by-step instruction on how to use a suicide bomb vest and passed this information on to another individual. Amawi also made verbal threats to kill or inflict bodily harm against the President of the United States.

This is a chilling reminder that we are indeed at war and that our enemy is dangerous and covert.

If any of these charges are proven beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law, I fully expect these men to be executed as traitors. Unfortunately, this doesn't sound like the direction that the Justice Department is heading...

If convicted of the most serious charges of conspiring to kill or maim people outside of the United States, the defendants could receive sentences of up to life in prison. I should point out that this is an indictment, and that the defendants have not yet been convicted of a crime.

Life in prison for being a traitor? You can not be serious!

Individuals who aid terrorists from within our borders threaten the safety of all Americans. And this case stands as a reminder of the need for continued vigilance in the war on terrorism. We are committed to protecting Americans, here and overseas, particularly the brave men and women of the U.S. Armed Forces who are serving our country and striving valiantly to preserve democracy and the rule of law in Iraq.

President Bush summarized our situation well during his recent remarks to the National Guard when he stated, "We are safer... but we're not yet safe. America remains at risk -- so we must remain vigilant. We will stay on the offenses, we will hunt down the terrorists, and we will never rest until this threat to the American people is removed."

It is difficult to take this seriously when life in prison is the best we can hope for if these men are convicted. Are we fighting a war or not?

Things do not get any better in the question and answer session:

QUESTION: How far had this group gotten in terms of enacting their conspiracy? Had they actually gotten any explosive devices? How far were they along in their training?

ATTORNEY GENERAL GONZALES: Again, Peter, I can't go beyond what's in the indictment. But clearly the folks had the motivation, and I think that they demonstrated that they had the means, and so I think that because of the good work of the law enforcement community, I think America is safer today. We think we have a very strong case here, but, obviously, again, this is - - we're at the indictment stage, and these folks are presumed innocent until proven guilty. But we feel like we have a strong case here.

Gonzales doesn't actually answer the question, which he shouldn't, but what he does tell us is enough to consider these guys as traitors. Why aren't we pursuing treason and or sedition charges?

Next is a question we all knew was coming:

QUESTION: General, was the information that led to the arrests gained by the warrantless surveillance program?

ATTORNEY GENERAL GONZALES: I somehow anticipated that question might be coming. We feel very, very strong about -- about this case. Otherwise, obviously, we would not have brought forth the indictment. And as I have said in previous discussions about the terrorist surveillance program, we are very, very much concerned about ensuring that we've done everything we can do to not jeopardize any prosecution, to not jeopardize any investigation, and I'll just leave it at that.

So, again, we feel very, very good about this case and being able to move forward to a successful prosecution.

Again Gonzales doesn't answer the question. And again, he is right to not do so. He does address the legal ramifications of the program as it regards to prosecutions. This sounds less and less like a response to an act of war and more and more like a response to a criminal action.

We were told that this was going to be a war unlike any other the United States has ever undertaken. Sometimes, that appears to be the case. Other times...not so much. This is one of those times.

These guys are in custody. Should there be sufficient evidence to convict, these guys no longer have rights in my book. I suspect the ACLU will see it differently...we'll see. So far, I am not all that impressed with the action we take after we take guys like this down.

We need Jack Bauer.

Mark's Remarks

Well, Matt, I am upset by the life in prison thing, too. However, what do you expect in the era of Comfy Chair Wars? I mean, we can't even threaten known enemy combatants with harm, it is "inhumane." John McCain's goiter might cry. We can't even try to protect our people by having a Constitutionally correct and legally correct limited wiretapping program. Nope, terrorist rights and collaborator rights are worth far too much than protecting Americans. No, it doesn't matter that only conversations with al Queda operatives or known terror supporters are listened to. No, it doesn't matter that even now Democrats are recanting on the issue of it being illegal and wrong. Nope, we are talking about the rights of wahabis to kill us! They must be protected, right libs?

In this era of hug a terrorist tactics, we can't expect anymore; especially from someone who has proven to be soft like Gonzales.