there shouldn't be a trial he should be tortured for info and then executed
On Mar 8, 7:28 pm, "M. Johnson" <[email protected]> wrote: > The Trial of Azzam the AmericanI can hardly waitbyJustin Raimondo, March 08, > 2010Author’s note:It now looks like the subject of this column, the “top > al-Qaeda commander” arrested in Pakistan,is notAdam Gadahn: CBS News > isreportingthat the original story was “false.” Instead, the man arrested has > been tentatively identified as Abu Yahya Mujahdeen al-Adam – also an > American, this time from Pennsylvania, who is said to be “close to Osama bin > Laden.” > Oh, but don’t worry, “it is still the arrest of an important Taliban > militant,” a Pakistani security official assures us – and he’s an American. > So, who is this guy? Stay tuned for updates. > In the meantime, this column about Gadahn is still timely, as his recent > videos – and murky history – give us some insight into someone who certainly > qualifies as the oddest of al-Qaeda’s pantheon of terrorist leaders.If > it’sconfirmed, the reported arrest ofAdam Gadahn, a.k.a. "Azzam the > American," al-Qaeda’s toppropagandist– and an American citizen – is going to > present the Obama administration with more problems in a sensitive area: > itsbotchingof the question of how to deal with captives in the "war on > terrorism," especially high-ranking terrorist operatives. Theconstantly > shifting plansfor the trial ofKhalid Sheikh Mohammed, theGuantanamo quagmire, > and now this. > Thenewsof Gadahn’s capture is barely an hour old as I write this, and already > the blogs areraisingthe question of whether he should be put to death. Under > normal circumstances, having already beenindictedandchargedwith treason by a > federal grand jury in central California, his trial – if the Pakistanis hand > him over, that is – would probably take place somewhere inthis vicinity. But > withthis administration, andthis Justice Department, who knows? They have > been all over the map on this question, and at this point nothing would > surprise me. > You’ll recall Hillary Clinton’sdisastrous sojournto Pakistan, where she > insulted her hosts by practically accusing the authorities of hiding top > al-Qaeda figures. By the time we’re done with the saga of Adam Gadahn, > however, I’ll bet she and her confreres in the administration – especially in > the Justice Department – will wish the Pakistanis had let this one go. That’s > because "Azzam" presents a real legal, political, and strategic problem for > President Obama.Legally, Gadahn has a right to a trial in open court, but we > aren’t dealing with just any old defendant in this case. Gadahn has been > functioning as al-Qaeda’s chief propagandist since at least2004, when the > first of several videos featuring him appeared.Articulate, informed, > andprolific, Gadahn’s commentaries present a clear uncompromising picture of > Osamabin Laden’s viewof the world. Putting him on trial in an American > courtroom will give Gadahn the spotlight he’s always wanted, aperfect > opportunityto play out his ideological and personal drama on the world stage. > Having capitulated to the Bush regime’slawless agendainpractically every > other respect, will the Obama-ites now throw in the towel completely, deem > him an “unprivileged enemy belligerent,” and charge him in front of a > military commission, where the whole deal can be carried out in semi-secret? > Not that I know the answer to that: I’m just askin’…. > What we’re going to be hit with, rather shortly, is a slew of psycho-babbling > "cultural" commentary, riffing on the alleged "emptiness" of the poor > boy’searly life– raised on a goat ranch by his > hippie-Christian-"off-the-grid"father– and then parked with his paternal > grandfather, Carl Pearlman, a prominent urologist and member of the > Anti-Defamation League board of directors, in Santa Ana, California. His > grandmother,Agnes Branch Pearlman, editor of theChristian Family > Chronicles,was agenealogist.From heavy metal to Islam was astrangeroad to > travel, but Gadahn took it: he signed up as a Muslim at a southern California > mosque, and fell in with a radical faction of younger types who disdained the > head of the mosque as a phony Muslim. Gadahn got intosome sort of > contretempswith the moderate imam, physically assaulted him, and was > arrested, convicted, and sentenced to community work. He never did his time, > however, and instead went off to Pakistan, where he married an Afghan, became > a father – and showed up, years later, in his new guise as "Azzam the > American," chief propagandist for al-Qaeda. > In the kind of coincidence that would get a fiction author in trouble, Gadahn > was arrested just as his latest video – a diatribe aimed at American Muslims, > praising Ft. Hood shooter Nidal Hassan, and urging the devout to take up arms > against the US –hit the Internet. A dramatic end to a dramatic saga – but > there are several aspects of this narrative that don’t make a whole lot of > sense. > To begin with, one of two radical Muslims who recruited Gadahn –Khalil Deek, > also an American citizen – has avery murkyhistory. Aside from showing up at > the Islamic Society mosque where Gadahn first turned to Islam, Deek was > picked up in Pakistan in 1999, and extradited to Jordan, where he was wanted > for planning the bombing of tourist hotels. His arrest was hailed by US > officials and Deek was described as a top al-Qaeda leader, whose job it was > to encrypt al-Qaeda communications and run jihadists from Pakistan into > Afghanistan. In spite of his status as an American citizen, US embassy > officials in Amman ignored his case – and failed to intervene when he was > inexplicably released after being held for 17 months. Jordanian officials > lamely attributed his release to a lack of evidence, although he had > supposedly cooperated in deciphering some captured al-Qaeda documents. > In May, 2001, Deek showed up at the American consulate in Peshawar. As > theOrange County Weeklyreportedin 2004:"That would have been a perfect > opportunity for U.S. authorities to question Deek about his involvement with > al-Qaeda. Instead, family members say, Deek was told to fill out an > application and come back later. ‘They didn’t even allow him to come into the > building,’ one of Deek’s relatives said in a recent interview. ‘They told him > to fill out an application for a visa and come back in four to six months.’ > "That was four months before Sept. 11. Since then, the family member said, > ‘We have lost all contact with him and don’t know where he is.’"HisWikipedia > entryclaims there are "reports" that he was killed, and speculates that the > killers may have been al-Qaeda, who may have been a little pissed off that he > had deciphered those documents while in jail – or it may have been the > Pakistanis. In any case, the extreme murkiness of his exact status and > whereabouts is ample cause to examine a bit more closely his link to Gadahn. > According to several accounts of Gadahn’s conversion and recruitment to > al-Qaeda, both he and Deek worked for "Charity Without Borders," an al-Qaeda > front group that sent money to overseas jihadists. This outfit was headed up > by Hisham Diab, an immigrant from Egypt and a naturalized US citizen. Diab’s > fate – and even his exact identity – areeven murkierthan the circumstances > surrounding Deek. > In any case, he and Deek were "perfectionists" at forging phony passports, > and supposedly were in the process ofmaking one for Osama bin Ladenwhen > Diab’s wife accidentally washed Osama’s photo which Diab had put in the > pocket of his dirty clothes. In June, 2001, he disappeared into Afghanistan, > leaving his American wife and former associates (some of whom arestill living > in the US) behind. > What is interesting is how the US authorities have shown next to no interest > in questioning Deek, Diab, or anyone else connected with al-Qaeda’s southern > California cell. Yet these are the people who recruited Gadahn – himself an > awfully odd figure, whose sudden evolution from a nice Jewish boy into Osama > bin Laden’s Goebbels is just a little hard to take. As theOrange County > Weeklyput it:"IfKhalil Deekis such a dangerous man, why have U.S. officials > passed up at least three opportunities to interrogate the former Anaheim > resident?Why indeed…. > When we speak of al-Qaeda, we are talking about a mystery wrapped in an > enigma and shrouded in a veil of murk. Shifting identities, faked deaths, and > sudden "resurrections" are the "norm" for this crowd, and especially when we > trace the path taken by Gadahn, the truth seems to fade farther into the > distance the more we pursue the connection. It took Diab’s wife years to > interest the FBI in her story – even after the1993 bombingof the World Trade > Center, which her husband was directly involved in. The mastermind of that > bombing,Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman, the "blind sheik," had been a guest in her > home. She called the FBI – and they hung up on her! "We’re not interested in > this," the woman who answered the phone told her. > To investigate the shadows that surround "Azzam the American" is to slide > down the rabbit hole with Alice: you wind up in an alternate universe where > nothing is quite what it seems. I don’t know about you, but something about > this whole fantastic narrative smells to high heaven. Whether we’ll ever get > to the bottom of it remains to be seen, but the upcoming trial of Adam Gadahn > – if indeed it is upcoming – may provide some real clues at > last.http://original.antiwar.com/justin/2010/03/07/the-trial-of-azzam-the-american/ -- Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum * Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/ * It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls. * Read the latest breaking news, and more.
