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Jacob Sullum recaps the dirty-bombing of Jose Padilla's court case.
Comments to "New at Reason":
Alan Vanneman | August 22, 2007, 8:37am | #
It says a lot about the faculty of Harvard Law School that they turned out en masse in support of Lewis Libby, a man afforded every possible advantage in a criminal trial, and have remained mute and silent over the treatment of Jose Padilla.Marcvs | August 22, 2007, 11:13am | #
"Padilla was ignorant on the subject of nuclear physics and believed he could separate plutonium from nuclear material by rapidly swinging over his head a bucket filled with fissionable material."That.. is.. awesome.
Trollaphile | August 22, 2007, 11:47am | #
"Padilla was ignorant on the subject of nuclear physics and believed he could separate plutonium from nuclear material by rapidly swinging over his head a bucket filled with fissionable material."Can you?
Jake Boone | August 22, 2007, 12:01pm | #
No.Chuck | August 22, 2007, 1:43pm | #
Marcvs--I showed that to my physics colleague down the hall. He's still laughing.
Seamus | August 22, 2007, 2:18pm | #
Am I the only one who doesn't understand how receiving training from a terrorist group constitutes "providing material support" for terrorists? If that's our government's position, then I think that every cadet who washes out of West Point and gets billed for the cost of the education the government provided him should turn around and say, "Bullshit. You weren't doing me any favors; rather, *I* was providing material support to *you*."Or maybe I missed the part in the indictment where it alleges that Padilla paid tuition to the al-Qaeda International School of Terrorism.
Douglas Gray | August 22, 2007, 5:10pm | #
It is interesting to contrast Padilla's treatment with that of two terrorists in Mexico.On October 10, 2001, CNN briefly mentioned a foiled terrorist bomb plot in the Mexican Parliament building. They promised to bring any further developments of this story to their viewers, but the incident was never heard of again in America. But the story appeared in bold headlines on the front page of the major Mexican newspapers and was also posted on the official website of the Mexican Justice Department. Two terror suspects were apprehended in the Mexican Chamber of Deputies. They had in their possession a high powered gun, nine hand grenades, and C-4 plastic explosives (great stuff for demolishing buildings) Within days, this story not only disappeared from the Mexican press, but two men were quietly released and deported, after receiving heavy pressure from Israel. The two terrorists were Salvador Gerson Sunke and Sar ben Zui. Sunke was a Mexican jew and Zui was a colonel with the MOSSAD, Israel Intel. They had forged Pakistani Passports in their possession, in the hopes of blowing up the place, and blaming it on hapless Muslims.
Had the terrorist actually been Muslims rather than Jews, I am sure CNN would have made it their # 1 story, and Bush would no doubt have spoken about "solidarity" with our nearest neighbor in the "war against terror."
Christ on a Cracker | August 22, 2007, 6:54pm | #
But what if you had a really big bucket?I think the fact that Douglas Gray is telling this story proves that he's an anti-Semite.
But you jokers are the same sort who belief in suit case nukes. How many buckets is that? Hint: a bunch. And, there isn't any plutonium involved. Ha!
John Rancho | August 23, 2007, 5:32am | #
Seamus:Douglas Grey is an anti-Semite if he is lying. Otherwise he is a whistle-blower and you are a censoring fascist.
Eric the .5b | August 23, 2007, 1:32pm | #
It is interesting to contrast Padilla's treatment with that of two terrorists in Mexico.
I think the fact that Douglas Gray is telling this story proves that he's an anti-Semite.Maybe not proves, but that he's repeating a story that looks to only exist on Truther blogs and websites citing each other, with everyone repeating it going, "OMG, Jews out to get us!" certainly makes it a possibility.
Seamus | August 23, 2007, 6:26pm | #
John Rancho:Actually, I was being sarcastic. But the fact that, as Eric the .5b points out, the only sites pulled up by a Google search of the names "Salvador Gerson Sunke" and "Sar ben Zui" seem indeed to be truther sites does give me pause.
Don Carlson | August 28, 2007, 4:55pm | #
Let me see if I have this right: Jose Padilla went overseas to join and be trained by the terrorist organization called al-Qaeda, did or did not take part in terrorist activities, returned to America with the hope of doing something awful to Americans, was arrested by federal authorities as an enemy of America, was held for a long time as an illegal enemy combatant, and was finally charged with and convicted of lending support to a terrorist organization. I think I understand that. But Jacob Sullum seems convinced that this series of events demonstrates that the federal authorities are nefarious idiots, have committed crimes of some sort, never intended to be fair to Mr. Padilla, and may be in league with forces trying to subject the world to injustice. I must assume he believed that the jurors who convicted Padilla were also idiots—or had a gun pointed at them. I don’t believe that. Oh, but what about the innuendo? Well, innuendo is not evidence except in Mr. Sullum’s world.
