Politicizing Justice In The War On Terror

In case you haven’t noticed, we are still fighting a war on terror. Young girls are being kidnapped, terrorists in the Middle East are killing Christians, and Islamist terrorists seem generally to be running amok. In the midst of this, we are getting ready to try one of the suspects in the attack on the American outpost in Benghazi.

Andrew McCarthy posted an article at National Review today about the indictment of Ahmed Abu Khatallah, the suspect arrested in connection with the attack in Benghazi. It seems that the indictment the Justice Department has created does not make sense when viewed in the context of who Ahmed Abu Khatallah is and what he did.

The article reports:

In big criminal cases — and there are none bigger than those involving terrorist attacks — indictments tend toward book length, written in a narrative style designed to cut through the legalese and explain what happened. See, if the prosecutor is ethically convinced that there is sufficient evidence to convict an accused terrorist, his duty is to plead the case as expansively as necessary to get that evidence admitted.

In terrorism cases, that has always meant fully describing the nature of the terrorist enterprise. Look at the Justice Department’s jihadist cases from the Nineties (see e.g., here). They explain the history of the international jihadist network; the different terrorist organizations and state sponsors it encompasses; the identity, status, and roles of the players; plus all of the different plots and attacks that knit the network together.

The idea is to frame the case in a way that completely and coherently relates it — making it easier for judges to admit controversial evidence and jurors to grasp the willfulness of the accused. That is why the most critical decision made by the prosecutor drafting a terrorism indictment is Count One — i.e., the first statutory offense alleged.

…It seems, however, that the Khatallah prosecution is following a different strategy.

Khatallah has been identified by the State Department as a “senior leader” of Ansar al-Sharia, one of the al-Qaeda-tied franchises in Libya. Yet there is no mention of Ansar al-Sharia in the indictment, much less of al-Qaeda or the Islamic-supremacist ideology that ties jihadist affiliates together. In fact, the indictment does not even accuse Khatallah of being a terrorist.

…In other words, the Justice Department is not alleging that Khatallah himself was a terrorist. It is saying that there were some elusive “terrorists” hanging around Benghazi, and Khatallah conspired to help the “terrorists” by contributing personnel — mainly, himself — to their machinations, knowing that these just might include preparation for a lethal attack on a U.S. facility.

Oh, and the duration of this conspiracy? It is alleged to have lasted about one day — i.e., from approximately sometime on September 11, 2012, to sometime after midnight September 12.

One day. In fact, maybe it was just a few hours.

…Instead, the indictment is written to portray a sudden, spontaneous eruption of violence, without much planning or warning, in which Khatallah — who knows . . . perhaps inspired by a video — abruptly joined a disgruntled group of protesters that turned out to include some shady terrorists motivated by . . . well, who can really say? All we know is the violence started without warning and, before you could scramble a fighter-jet or fuel up Air Force One for a Vegas campaign junket, it was all over.

There are a lot of downsides to giving enemy-combatant terrorists all the majesty of American due process. But at least it used to mean that, by the end, you’d have the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. Now, it’s starting to look like what you get on the Sunday shows.

It’s time for Eric Holder to go back to Chicago.

The Week’s Best Question At A News Conference

The news is agog with reports of the capture of suspected Benghazi ringleader Ahmed Abu Khattala. His capture was announced early Tuesday. Department of State spokeswoman Jen Psaki handled the press conference that was supposed to be a victory lap for the Obama Administration. However, I am noticing that the press is becoming a little less willing to be used as props for the failed policies of the Obama Administration. There seems to be some genuine confusion as to why it took almost two years to capture someone who was not only hiding in plain sight, but giving interviews to reporters.

The Daily Caller posted an article about the press conference that included the following:

When asked why no one in the U.S. special forces didn’t simply pose as a reporter, she joked that “we appreciate your view if you’re volunteering yourself for future endeavors.”

“You’re still not addressing the central question… you’re not answering the question of why a reporter was able to get within 6 inches of this guy and U.S. special forces weren’t for more than two years,” Rosen (Fox News correspondent James Rosen ), now exasperated, interjected.

To me, that is not the most disturbing aspect of this story. Ahmed Abu Khattala will be brought to New York where he will be tried in a standard American court with the full rights that are granted to American citizens. There will be a discovery phase of the trial which will allow his lawyers access to information showing how America is combating terrorism. It is also a pretty safe bet that no further perpetrators of the Benghazi attack will be arrested–this is simply not a very high priority for the Obama Administration. It is also highly probable that Mr. Khattala will be encouraged to say that it was the video that inspired him. I have seen reports that prior to the attack on Benghazi, the anti-Muslim video had less than 2000 hits. (Some reports say as few as 700 hits, some say as many as 1700.)  Are we to suppose that Mr. Khattala was one of these? Do Muslim leaders constantly watch YouTube to look for things to protest? (That may actually be true, but did they contact Mr. Khattala?)

There is nothing about the capture of this man and the timing of the capture that does not scream ‘diversion.’ It will be interesting to see if Americans are willing to be distracted by this as the Obama Administration’s economic and foreign policies are failing in front of our eyes.

There Will Be More

As the select committee to investigate Benghazi gets organized, gets its security clearances in order, plans its witnesses, etc., there will be those who hope to obstruct its mission. There will also be those who are in search of the truth about what happened that night.

Allen West posted an article on his website today that illustrates why we need the select committee. I strongly suggest you follow the link and read the entire article.

Here are a few excerpts:

I was seated beside someone who personally knew one of the men who was there on the roof in Benghazi. This person was excited to share with me the “ground truth” of what happened September 11, 2012.

…I learned about the proximity of the staging area of the attack to the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, and the attackers were indeed Ansar al-Sharia, a group affiliated with al-Qaida. I came to understand why Ambassador Chris Stevens was there in the first place and that he had in fact requested better security but was denied – the question is, by whom? And I learned that the Martyrs of 17 February Brigade were in charge of security and were the ones who opened the gates, then fled.

I learned there are those who are being threatened with their pensions being cut off if they come forth to speak.

And I learned, as I presumed, that there was a covert weapons scheme going on in Libya, Benghazi. We had been supplying radical Islamists with weapons against Libyan President Moammar Gadhafi, effectively supplying the enemy and destabilizing that country. And it seems that there was a CIA weapons buy-back program, the aim of which was to ship the retrieved weapons out of Libya through Turkey, and to the Islamist forces in Syria.

I strongly suggest that you read the entire article. There are many things that the committee needs to investigate about what happened that night in Benghazi.

I was seated beside someone who personally knew one of the men who was there on the roof in Benghazi. This person was excited to share with me the “ground truth” of what happened September 11, 2012.
Read more at http://allenbwest.com/2014/05/exclusive-confidential-source-reveals-really-happened-benghazi/#fCXybhSrMwdlxbDk.99
I was seated beside someone who personally knew one of the men who was there on the roof in Benghazi. This person was excited to share with me the “ground truth” of what happened September 11, 2012.
Read more at http://allenbwest.com/2014/05/exclusive-confidential-source-reveals-really-happened-benghazi/#fCXybhSrMwdlxbDk.99
I was seated beside someone who personally knew one of the men who was there on the roof in Benghazi. This person was excited to share with me the “ground truth” of what happened September 11, 2012.
Read more at http://allenbwest.com/2014/05/exclusive-confidential-source-reveals-really-happened-benghazi/#fCXybhSrMwdlxbDk.99
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The Information On Benghazi Continues To Drip Out

Sharyl Attkisson continues to investigate the Benghazi cover-up and report on her findings. She is doing the job that CBS News should have been doing when she worked for them. Yesterday she posted an article at sharylattkisson.com with a link to a Department of State email showing that the State Department knew almost immediately that the attack at Benghazi was the work of Islamic militia terrorist group Ansar al Sharia.

This is the link to the email. The email is from Beth E. Jones, then-Assistant Secretary of State to Hillary Clinton.

This is the main part of the email:

BenghaziEmailSharyl Attkisson reports:

There is no uncertainty assigned to the assessment, which does not mention a video or a protest. The State Department provided the email to Congress in Aug. of 2013 under special conditions that it not be publicly released at that time. Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) sought and received permission to release it Thursday.

Why is this information coming out now? Because enough people have realized that there has been a cover-up of what actually happened at Benghazi, and many officials (as well as the American people) are tired of being lied to. The Obama Administration has successfully withheld documents and information about the Benghazi attack and the death of Christopher Stevens from Congress and the American people until very recently. It is because the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and those organizations such as Judicial Watch that we are becoming aware of the truth. Hopefully, when you vote in November, you will remember who helped with the cover-up and who helped reveal the truth.

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