MORE SUCCESSFUL PROSECUTIONS in the United States:
Two American Muslims were sentenced yesterday to 20 and 15 years in prison, respectively, for their roles in support of a Virginia-based conspiracy to engage in holy war against nations deemed hostile to Islam, including the United States.
Randall Todd Royer, 31, and Ibrahim al-Hamdi, 26, were among nine men who either pleaded guilty or were convicted of charges related to their participation in what prosecutors called a “Virginia jihad network.” Two others were acquitted on all counts. . . .
Royer, as part of a plea agreement, admitted helping other members of the conspiracy join a militant Pakistani group called Lashkar-e-Taiba in the days after the September 11 attacks. Three of the men who received Royer’s assistance said they intended to train with Lashkar-e-Taiba so they could fight for the Taliban, but several trained with Lashkar-e-Taiba, which the U.S. government designated a terrorist organization in December 2001.
I’ve been critical of Ashcroft here in the past, and I still think that he shouldn’t be Attorney General. But I have to admit that these prosecutions and convictions just keep coming.
UPDATE: They may be lucky to have been caught. Here’s the latest on Lakshar-e-Taiba: “3 top Pak militants killed without firing a single shot.” They hid in a tunnel, and Indian police flooded it with water, removing the bodies for identification after they drowned.
ANOTHER UPDATE: Daniel Pipes notes a CAIR connection. I’m beginning to have doubts about those guys.
YET ANOTHER UPDATE: On the other hand, the prosecution of Guantanamo military chaplain James J. Yee has imploded in embarrassing fashion:
The appellate decision by Gen. James Hill, the Army Southern Command chief who oversees military operations at Guantánamo, wiped the slate clean for Capt. James J. Yee, who ministered for 10 months to foreign terrorism detainees at the United States naval base in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba.
“This means there will be no official mention of it in his military record,” General Hill said.
The decision ended what one of Captain Yee’s lawyers, Eugene Fidell, called a “hoax” case. Mr. Fidell said that Captain Yee was “obviously very pleased” at the decision but that the military owed him an apology.
I’m not that familiar with the ins and outs of the case, but it appears that they do.