Category: Terrorism

Bin Laden’s Driver Convicted of Being…A Driver

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He was convicted of “offering material support” by being a driver.

The Judge seems to be remarkably fair, which surprises me:

As the subsequent sentencing hearing began, the judge called Hamdan “a small player” and refused to let the government call an FBI agent to testify about retrieving bodies from the World Trade Center after the September 11 attacks.

The judge, Navy Capt. Keith Allred, said the testimony was irrelevant since Hamdan had been cleared of conspiring with al Qaeda to carry out any attacks.

While Hamdan was convicted on five counts of providing material support for terrorism, the judge said the charges duplicated each other and ordered that he be sentenced only for one count, which he summarized as “driving Mr. bin Laden around Afghanistan.”

Matt Bors put it best.

Link to cartoonist.

Michael Hirsh notes that this verdict is a loss for Bush. Among other things, it’s likely to be overturned on appeal, because the tribunals were only given authority to prosecute war crimes, and “material support” is not a war crime.

What’s more, the Judge pretty much said with his instructions, and his sentencing actions, that the Bush administration’s definition of terrorist is a 6 pounds of manure in a 5 pound bag.

Hamdan Trial at Guantanamo

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The prosecution wanted the instructions to the jury changed, but withdrew the request when it was clear that this would result in a mistrial. Furthermore, the judge said that they had waited too long.

The judge instructed the jury that, in order to find him guilty on the charge of transporting the missiles, “they must find the missiles were intended for use against protected people — civilians not involved in hostilities, soldiers removed from combat by illness or capture, or religious or medical personnel.”

Since at the time of his capture, the only aircraft flying in Afghanistan were US and coalition aircraft, it seems to me that this is innocent.

The prosecution objected to this instruction, they wanted the judge to, “Tell jurors that any attempt by an ‘unlawful enemy combatant’ to kill a U.S. soldier in combat is a war crime,” which is a novel definition of a war crime, and, as the defense put it, “Then the United States committed a war crime by providing missiles to mujahideen forces who used them against the Soviet military in Afghanistan in the 1990s.” (date wrong in the article. It was the 1980s.)

These really are Kangaroo courts, and I think that the prosecutors may very well be committing a war crime, or a crime against humanity, by working under these rules.

Finally, the military managed to create this homage to Kafka:

Hamdan was allowed an hour-long phone call with his wife in Yemen on Monday evening, a Guantanamo official said. Defense attorneys said they tried to get permission for her to attend the trial but were refused on grounds that she is married to a terrorism suspect.

(emphasis mine)

We really need to prosecute the entire chain of war crimes from top to bottom when Bush and His Evil Minions™ are out of power, from the lowliest officer (the enlisted men have been prosecuted) to the very highest authority.

FBI Used Abusive Tactics That Might Have Caused Ivin’s Death

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Just lovely. It appears that he was in counseling, and was briefly hospitalized, as a direct result of abusive FBI tactics, which included pressuring his children to turn on him, telling his son that he could get the $2.5 million dollar reward and buy a sports car, and showing his daughter gruesome pictures of the Anthrax victims, and told her, “Your father did this.”

The FBI has noted his access to a lyophilyser, a freeze drying maching that, “could be used to dry wet anthrax into powder,” but would not have produced weaponized anthrax.

The output would resemble instant coffee, which would require extensive processing to become inhalable. I used to do routing maintenance on an lyophilyser in an medical lab (1982-3), and I am aware of its capabilities.

A number of his co-workers believe that the FBI singled him out because of history of alcohol problems and other problems, so they figured that they could break him.

Head of Unscom Bio Weapons Said, Ivins Couldn’t Have Done It

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Richard Spertzel, head of the biological-weapons section of Unscom from 1994-99, nd a member of the Iraq Survey Group, wrote an Op/Ed in the Wall Street Journal that I highly recommend.

Basically, he says that Bruce Ivins, and everyone at the lab, worked on the bacteria in growth media, and did not have the equipment to make the weaponized form, which is powdered and given coatings to create a static charge to further spread the powder:

From what we know so far, Bruce Ivins, although potentially a brilliant scientist, was not that man. The multiple disciplines and technologies required to make the anthrax in this case do not exist at Army’s Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases. Inhalation studies are conducted at the institute, but they are done using liquid preparations, not powdered products.

(emphasis mine)

Impeachable Offense

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Ron Suskind, in his latest book, the Way of the world, says that the White House ordered that the CIA forge a back-dated letter between the head of Iraqi security and Saddam Hussein showing al Queida ties after the fall of Baghdad to deflect attention away from the lack of WMDs.

The National Security Act of 1947 specifically forbids the CIA from taking actions that have their primary intent of deceiving the American People.

So, what will happen?

Nothing.

NOT ON THE TABLE! NOT ON THE TABLE!

FBI Looking to Close Anthrax Case, but the Evidence Seems Thinner Than it Should Be

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It turns out that the evidence pointing toward Bruce Ivins was circumstantial, which does not mean invalid, but is not necessarily definitive.

At least 10 people had access to the flask that is now believed to be the source of the letters, and there is nothing tying Ivins to the postbox from which the Anthrax was mailed.

The envelopes came from post offices in Frederick, but it’s clear that the Anthrax came from Detrick, and it’s clear from the article that the FBI has been a bunch of keystone Cops on this.

What’s more, we now have a report that the White House was pressuring the FBI to finger al Queida on the Anthrax mailings.

Additionally, Glenn Greenwald has a rundown on the person who requested a restraining order against Bruce Ivins, and notes that the order is only 2 weeks old, and the application makes reference to the FBI investigation, which is odd, so I’m wondering if the FBI told her that the guy was under investigation as the Anthrax mailer, or that Ivins, who she was counseling, told her that he was under investigation, and she freaked.

I’m not saying that there is a conspiracy out there, just that the FBI really wants to close this case, and that they might still operating at a Keystone Cops level competence.

Talk About Rebelling Against Your Parents

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Yes, I know that the source is Wing Nut daily, but this story is just too amusing to pass up.

According to WND, Masab Yousuf, son of West Bank Hamas leader Sheik Hassan Yousef, has converted to Christianity, and has become a supporter of Israel:

“I know that I’m endangering my life and am even liable to lose my father, but I hope that he’ll understand this and that God will give him and my family patience and willingness to open their eyes to Jesus and to Christianity. Maybe one day I’ll be able to return to Palestine and to Ramallah with Jesus, in the Kingdom of God,” Masab said.

Masab said he previously aided his father with Hamas activities, but he now has affection for Israel and laments Hamas.

Well, I guess that’s how you rebel against your parents, if your parent is a rebel.

Ft. Detrick Scientist Targeted in Anthrax Probe, Commits Suicide

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His name was Bruce Ivins, and it appears that his arrest was imminent.

More important than the possibility, and no evidence has been presented, that the Anthrax mailer has been identified is the question about who lied to the press about the presence of Bentonite in the spores.

Not only was this completely untrue, there were none in the samples, but it was used to point a finger at Iraq, which, unlike the US, used Bentonite in its bio-weapons program.

Glenn Breenwald has a rundown of how the press, ABC in particular, were used to finger Iraq for the Anthrax by mentioning non-existent Bentonite.

Who were the government sources who were lying to the press? Was Bruce Ivins one of them? Was this a part of a concerted effort to gin up support for the attack on Iraq?

CIA Starts Leaking Dirt on Pakistani ISI

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Pakistan denies this, but we have reports that a CIA operative met with Pakistani and presented evidence of close links and support between al Queida and the people in the Directorate for Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).

Pakistan’s state security apparatus is focused on a war with India, and when it’s not focused on that, it’s looking at reducing Indian influence in the area, so at allies with Maulavi Jalaluddin Haqqani, which provides sanctuary for al Queida.

These people are not reliable allies with regard to combatting al Queida, the Taliban, or terrorism in general as a result.

Some Torture Derived Evidence Excluded at Guantanamo Trial

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The thing that is depressing though is what looks likely to be admitted in the trial, including statements made under the influence of, “sleep deprivation, solitary confinement and sexual humiliation”, because these actions could be seen as, “rationally related to good order and discipline.”

Maybe, if the warders in the prison were members of Stalin’s NKVD. Otherwise, this has nothing to do with “good order and discipline”.

Bush Has a New Political Scandal to Cover Up

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I don’t know what it is, though I predict that it will come out some time between 8:00pm on Friday and Monday morning.

How do I know this? I know this because Homeland Security Secretary Vladimir Ilyich Lenin* Michael Chertoff is issuing a warning that European Terrorists are attempting to enter the US.

We know what this means: Breaking scandal in the Bush admin.

*Sorry about the confusion, for some reason, I always mix up the two of them.

Hamdan Request for Injunction on Military Show Trial Denied

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His lawyers are requesting an injunction for two reasons:

  • That they believe that the process is unconstitutional, and wish to challenge the process before a trial (and inevitable guilty verdict).
  • That the Supreme Court has granted detainees the right to challenge their enemy combatant classification, and as such, the trial cannot start until that is adjudicated in federal court.

It should be interesting, because Bush and His Evil Minions™ are desperately trying to get these trials scheduled for maximum impact on the November elections.

And the Judge has decided to allow the trial to proceed on schedule.

Court: “Because I Said So” Not Due Process

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Ali Saleh Kahlah al-Marri a legal US resident who was arrested for credit card fraud, and then declared an “enemy combatant” will now have his day in court, after more than 5 years in solitary confinement.

The court ruled that he could be detained, but that the basis of the detention, the statement of a defense department official without supporting evidence, was insufficient to justify his classification.

Note that as a legal resident, he has the same rights to due process as a US citizen, and so the Bush administration’s position was thus that they were free to detain anyone at any time forever without any supporting facts.

Personally, I think that if they have evidence, it should be addressed in a real trial, though I would be not at all surprised if this hearing reveals that the emperor has no clothes.