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In a terrorism trial held in a federal District Court in Manhattan, Faisal Shahzad, who attempted to set off a bomb in Times Square, was sentenced to life in prison for the crime. He did not get “a platform to express his hideous ideology,” nor was his trial either a target for global terrorism or a recruiting poster for Al Qaeda. It was just a trial, a perfectly ordinary trial where evidence was presented and the judge reached a fairly swift verdict.
Mind you, Shahzad certainly tried to use his sentencing to express his views, but I think the net effect of that in the Muslim world will be absolutely nothing.
Faisal Shahzad, who pleaded guilty to trying to blow up a sport utility vehicle carrying a homemade bomb in May in Times Square, thick with Saturday visitors, was sentenced on Tuesday morning to spend the rest of his life in prison. Remaining defiant, and smirking as the sentence was read, he told the court: “Brace yourselves, because the war with Muslims has just begun.”
He later continued: “The defeat of the U.S. is imminent and will happen in the near future.”
Now Shahzad will enter prison for the rest of his life, never to be heard from again. That’s a proper law enforcement response to attempted murder, and it can just as easily be done with Khalid Sheikh Mohammed as it was with Faisal Shahzad. KSM planned to plead not guilty, but his words about the US government would get printed in the paper, just as Shahzad’s did, and not broadcast to the entire world. The Shahzad case proves pretty definitively that a law enforcement approach to terrorism can work, and the legal system is more than equipped to handle the cases.
UPDATE: I’m pleased that the Administration is crowing about this.
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Life in prison, eh? And now he’s going to rot in jail forever for designing and building a “bomb” that had exactly zero chance of detonating, at least in this universe. Well done buddy….I hope somebody points that out to you daily.
OT, David H. Koch, the right wing “libertarian” is a major sponsor/donor of PBS. Control the medium control the message. The Propaganda Broadcasting System is in the employ of an American dedicated to destroying the working and middle class. Anyone working or middle class that donates to PBS during one of their “pledge” drives is nothing more than a sucker, chump, and/or mark.
The posts at FDL become fewer and fewer. Disinterest, boredom or merely a national malaise?
time and topic.
Perhaps but compared to other blogs it does seem as if posts are dropping.
People are getting tired and exhausted at beating their heads against the wall. We want direct action not words words words.
I would have said something of the same but I lacked the intestinal fortitude to do so. Following your remarks, however, I will point out that similar crimes in Europe have got their perps 10-20 years, even those that caused fatalities.
Be afraid.
Be very afraid.
Why do people like David and Charles Koch, who together have 40 billion dollars want to destroy the middle class? It makes no sense, none at all. What more could they hope for in this world than what they already have? And yet, they do it. Why does the Roberts court want to allow foreigners and corporations to control our democracy? Makes no sense. And they call liberals “activists”. It could make you despondent and feeling helpless, if you’re not careful.
This is a disgrace! People with competent counsel do not plead Guilty. The US has plunged headlong into Fascism by perpetrating this travesty of justice and Crime against Humanity. A rigged judicial proceeding proves nothing except the character flaws of the perpetrators and of those going along with the farce. Unless the US allows legitimate trials wherein the Rule of Law applies, our Government continues to cry out for international censure.
Woke up this morning on the east coast where I am visiting and doing business . The headline in this mornings puff news paper is a quote from Mr.Shahzad , which reads , “If I am given a thousand lives I will sacrifice them all for the sake of Allah .”
No mention is made in the article of ramped up drone strikes in Pakistan or the fact that this man is angry about the indiscriminate killing of innocent men , women , and children in Pakistan , in a war which just spills over the borders of one sovereign nation after another in the Mid East all of which happen to be Muslim .
Propaganda for endless wars in a country whose disdain for both human rights and the basic civil liberties of it’s own citizenry fuels the impression of moral superiority while demonizing an enemy who is being abused on their own doorsteps over dwindling energy resources by a nation which spends more than the entire planet combined annually on it’s militarism !
The Judge in this case expressed disgust that this man showed no remorse .
May I suggest that the judge’s lack of remorse over crimes against humanity committed by our foreign policy is far more disgusting than the pitiful attempt at retribution made by the defendant in his court room !
Shame !