The Reaper
08-14-2009, 09:55
Glad to see that our administration, representatives, and courts are moving in the right way on this.:rolleyes:
TR
http://www.ibdeditorials.com/IBDArticles.aspx?id=335056161392994
A Weakening Will To Crush Terror
By INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY | Posted Thursday, August 13, 2009 4:20 PM
The Law: Terrorists have had lots to celebrate recently as court rulings from Bangkok to Madrid wiped out years of work to stop them and raised doubts about treating the war on terror as a law-enforcement action.
Last Friday, a U.S. federal judge ordered the release of Sheik Mohammed al-Moayad, a Yemeni cleric convicted in 2005 of financing Hamas and trying to bankroll al-Qaida by as much as $20 million. Al-Moayad had been sentenced to 75 years, but based on claims of improperly admitted evidence, a judge ordered him freed. Now set for deportation, he will likely kill again.
Then on Tuesday, a Thai judge ordered Russian arms trafficker Viktor Bout, a monster known as "The Lord of War" and "The Merchant of Death" for selling billions in illegal weapons to terrorists on four continents, set free instead of extraditing him to the U.S.
In a 2008 sting operation, U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents posed as Colombian FARC terrorists looking for weapons and managed to lure the elusive trafficker from Moscow to Bangkok, where he could be picked up by Thai authorities.
In ruling that charges against Bout be dropped, the Thai judge said Thailand hadn't recognized FARC as a terrorist group and that only Americans were threatened. Thai prosecutors are appealing, but if they lose, Bout walks.
On Thursday, Scottish Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill was said to be considering the release, on "compassionate" grounds, of the only Libyan agent convicted of aiding terrorists in blowing up a Pan-Am jet over Lockerbie in 1988. Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrani has cancer, but at the time of his conviction, prosecutors assured victims he'd be put away forever.
Also Thursday, Spain's socialist government showed its low regard for anti-terrorist peacekeeping in Lebanon, where it has a leading U.N. role. Spain declared 51 Honduran volunteer troops unwelcome to help keep peace in that terrorist-threatened nation.
Spain said it didn't recognize the Honduran government of Roberto Micheletti, which threw out dictator wannabe Mel Zelaya on June 28, and therefore the Hondurans were dispensable. Never mind protecting Lebanon.
Finally on Thursday, a judge in Khartoum, Sudan, dumped a death sentence for a terrorist who had murdered a U.S. diplomat and his driver last year, softening it to 10 years. The judge said the driver's family had forgiven the terrorist. So never mind the American.
All these acts have one thing in common: They are legal rulings. All show sophistic logic, disregard for broader consequences and a weakening will to fight terror.
Most specifically, they ignore the political aims and severity of each terror act. Such rulings might be appropriate in criminal settings. But for terrorism, they only encourage more of the same.
They also disregard the work of thousands of lawmen and intelligence officers who risk their lives to bring these killers to justice. Delicate operations, transborder coordination, the odd flash of luck are all for naught in the hands of one bad judge.
U.S. officials have hinted that the cases in Bangkok and Khartoum smell of bribery. The one in Lockerbie has the look of forgotten resolve. The cases in Washington and Madrid are too legalistic.
All are infected with political bias. We doubt they'd cut sentences for actual terrorist triggermen. But the overlords of terror — moneymen, arms suppliers and clerics — are politically easier to go soft on.
It all shows the problem of treating the war on terror as solely a law-enforcement matter. That's the approach in the Obama administration. It's already showing in a weaker will to fight terrorism.
TR
http://www.ibdeditorials.com/IBDArticles.aspx?id=335056161392994
A Weakening Will To Crush Terror
By INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY | Posted Thursday, August 13, 2009 4:20 PM
The Law: Terrorists have had lots to celebrate recently as court rulings from Bangkok to Madrid wiped out years of work to stop them and raised doubts about treating the war on terror as a law-enforcement action.
Last Friday, a U.S. federal judge ordered the release of Sheik Mohammed al-Moayad, a Yemeni cleric convicted in 2005 of financing Hamas and trying to bankroll al-Qaida by as much as $20 million. Al-Moayad had been sentenced to 75 years, but based on claims of improperly admitted evidence, a judge ordered him freed. Now set for deportation, he will likely kill again.
Then on Tuesday, a Thai judge ordered Russian arms trafficker Viktor Bout, a monster known as "The Lord of War" and "The Merchant of Death" for selling billions in illegal weapons to terrorists on four continents, set free instead of extraditing him to the U.S.
In a 2008 sting operation, U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents posed as Colombian FARC terrorists looking for weapons and managed to lure the elusive trafficker from Moscow to Bangkok, where he could be picked up by Thai authorities.
In ruling that charges against Bout be dropped, the Thai judge said Thailand hadn't recognized FARC as a terrorist group and that only Americans were threatened. Thai prosecutors are appealing, but if they lose, Bout walks.
On Thursday, Scottish Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill was said to be considering the release, on "compassionate" grounds, of the only Libyan agent convicted of aiding terrorists in blowing up a Pan-Am jet over Lockerbie in 1988. Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrani has cancer, but at the time of his conviction, prosecutors assured victims he'd be put away forever.
Also Thursday, Spain's socialist government showed its low regard for anti-terrorist peacekeeping in Lebanon, where it has a leading U.N. role. Spain declared 51 Honduran volunteer troops unwelcome to help keep peace in that terrorist-threatened nation.
Spain said it didn't recognize the Honduran government of Roberto Micheletti, which threw out dictator wannabe Mel Zelaya on June 28, and therefore the Hondurans were dispensable. Never mind protecting Lebanon.
Finally on Thursday, a judge in Khartoum, Sudan, dumped a death sentence for a terrorist who had murdered a U.S. diplomat and his driver last year, softening it to 10 years. The judge said the driver's family had forgiven the terrorist. So never mind the American.
All these acts have one thing in common: They are legal rulings. All show sophistic logic, disregard for broader consequences and a weakening will to fight terror.
Most specifically, they ignore the political aims and severity of each terror act. Such rulings might be appropriate in criminal settings. But for terrorism, they only encourage more of the same.
They also disregard the work of thousands of lawmen and intelligence officers who risk their lives to bring these killers to justice. Delicate operations, transborder coordination, the odd flash of luck are all for naught in the hands of one bad judge.
U.S. officials have hinted that the cases in Bangkok and Khartoum smell of bribery. The one in Lockerbie has the look of forgotten resolve. The cases in Washington and Madrid are too legalistic.
All are infected with political bias. We doubt they'd cut sentences for actual terrorist triggermen. But the overlords of terror — moneymen, arms suppliers and clerics — are politically easier to go soft on.
It all shows the problem of treating the war on terror as solely a law-enforcement matter. That's the approach in the Obama administration. It's already showing in a weaker will to fight terrorism.