Plea Bargain???

According to Power Line, Ali Saleh Khalah al Marri has agreed to a plea bargain with federal prosecutors.  Under this plea bargain, he could serve up to fifteen years in prison.  Mr. al Marri arrived in the United States (he was a legal resident) on September 10, 2001, to serve as an al Qaeda sleeper agent.  Nice.

According to Power Line, this is what the plea bargain says:

"The defendant researched online information related to various cyanide compounds. The defendant's focus was on various cyanide substances, including hydrogen cyanide, potassium cyanide, and sodium cyanide. The defendant reviewed toxicity levels, the locations where these items could be purchased, and specific pricing of the compounds. The defendant also studied various commercial uses for cyanide compounds. The defendant also explored obtaining sulfuric acid.

 

The defendant agrees that the government would prove at trial that sulfuric acid is a well known binary agent which is used in a hydrogen cyanide binary device to create cyanide gas, and that this is the method taught by al Qaeda for manufacturing cyanide gas. The defendant further agrees that the government would prove at trial that his research into various cyanide compounds is consistent with the type of research conducted by persons trained in camps teaching advanced poisons courses to terrorist organizations, including al Qaeda. The defendant also agrees that the government would prove at trial that an almanac recovered in the defendant's residence was bookmarked at pages showing dams, waterways and tunnels in the United States, which is also consistent with al Qaeda attack planning regarding the use of cyanide gases."

He admits planning terrorism, and we have allowed him to plea bargain for fifteen years.  What happens at the end of that fifteen years?  Do we honestly believe it is safe to let this man out of jail?  The evidence against him was on his laptop computer.  He was researching how to kill innocent Americans.  This episode shows the folly of putting terrorists into a civilian justice system and giving them the rights of American citizens.  I don't even care if a terrorist is an American citizen, if he is caught red-handed plotting terrorism against America, he should be put in a military justice system (or if you are not willing to do that, he should be given a mandatory life sentence with no chance of parole).  I really do not want to let this man out of jail--even in fifteen years.