| Topic: |
Politics > Politics-Misc |
| User: |
"Gandalf Grey" |
| Date: |
09 Aug 2007 12:00:17 PM |
| Object: |
Perverted Justice |
Perverted Justice
By Ted Rall
Created Aug 8 2007 - 9:14am
NEW YORK--"This is not a crime about thought," says the assistant U.S.
attorney. Then what is it?
Mahmud Faruq Brent, a 30-year-old D.C. taxi driver, is about to spend the
next 15 years behind bars for "conspiring to support a terrorist
organization." No one, not even prosecutors, believes that the Ohio-born
Brent planned to attack the United States. Brent was convicted of supporting
Lakshar-e-Taiba, an Islamist group in Pakistan, and of attending one of its
training camps.
"This defendant took action and he offered himself to a terrorist
organization," explains the prosecutor. But all the "action" took place in
the would-be jihadi's brain. There was no terrorist act. There was no crime.
Based in Pakistan, Lakshar-e-Taiba has attacked India, which it seeks to
drive out of Kashmir. It has also carried out terrorist acts in Pakistan as
part of its campaign to oust the military junta of General Pervez Musharraf.
It's easy to see why Musharraf is afraid of the group. One could understand
why the U.S., as Musharraf's ally, might honor Pakistan's request to
extradite one of its members. But Lakshar-e-Taiba has never attacked a
target in the United States, the West--anywhere outside the Asian
subcontinent. Why are American taxpayers footing the bill to lock this man
up for 15 years?
Abdulrahman Farhane, a Brooklyn bookstore owner accused with Mahmud Brent of
supporting the Pakistani group Lakshar-e-Taiba, received 13 years in federal
prison. Two others charged in the case are awaiting sentencing.
"The government is arresting individuals on terrorism charges based on what
individuals have said or thought--not on actual, concrete plans,"
editorialized the Daytona Beach News-Journal- about Hamid Hayat, one of
countless Muslims nabbed after 9/11 for "providing material support or
resources to terrorists." The feds "only proved that he did things that
sometimes precede acts of terrorism. It was pre-emptive justice, but was
also speculative justice."
Most people have indulged in theoretical discussions about how to rob a bank
or even how to get away with murder. They obviously don't intend to carry
out their "plots." Yet any of us could fall victim to the recent tendency to
equate crimes of intent to crimes of action.
Jack McClellan, 45, is a self-described pedophile who runs a blog that
advocates sex with children. "If you look at things he has posted, he
clearly is a pedophile," says Lt. Thomas Sirkel of the Sheriff's Department
in Los Angeles, where McClellan lives. As far as we know, however, he has
never acted on it. His record is clean.
Local mothers are plotting--er, organizing--to "to push lawmakers in
Sacramento to legislate Mr. McClellan out of business," reports The New York
Times. "Just the idea that this person could get away with what he was doing
and no one could press charges has made me angry," Jane Thompson of East Los
Angeles told the paper. Of course, what really angers her is that he's
getting away with what he's thinking.
I don't blame her. But McClellan hasn't done anything. Do we really want to
live in a culture that penalizes violent and impure thoughts?
Thoughtcrime pours big bucks into CBS Television, broadcaster of the
take-a-bath-after-viewing program "To Catch a Predator." No one cares about
entrapped suckers like the guy "in a SpongeBob SquarePants jacket, armed
with a bottle of K-Y Jelly." Like dozens of other would-be pervs, the
21-year-old man thinks he's going to meet a 14-year-old girl for sex, only
to find Dateline's Chris Hansen and a passel of cops waiting to arrest him.
"Anti-predator stings involving decoys may actually outnumber crimes
involving real victims," reports Rolling Stone. "To Catch a Predator" claims
there are 50,000 child molesters online. But "a study conducted by the
University of New Hampshire estimated that there were fewer than 2900
arrests for online sexual offenses against minors in a single year. What's
more, only 1152 involved victims who were approached by strangers on the
Internet--and more than half this number were actually cops posing as kids."
In other words, most men who fantasize about sex with children don't
actually do it. Judeo-Christian tradition rewards those who deny temptation;
we throw them in jail. Perverted Justice, the group that trolls chat rooms
to set up stings for "To Catch a Predator," has a fitting name.
Ari Fleischer warned us to watch what we say. Now we'd better watch what we
think.
_______
About author Ted Rall is the author of the new book "Silk Road to Ruin: Is
Central Asia the New Middle East?," an in-depth prose and graphic novel
analysis of America's next big foreign policy challenge.
--
NOTICE: This post contains copyrighted material the use of which has not
always been authorized by the copyright owner. I am making such material
available to advance understanding of
political, human rights, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues. I
believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of such copyrighted material as
provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright
Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107
"A little patience and we shall see the reign of witches pass over, their
spells dissolve, and the people recovering their true sight, restore their
government to its true principles. It is true that in the meantime we are
suffering deeply in spirit,
and incurring the horrors of a war and long oppressions of enormous public
debt. But if the game runs sometimes against us at home we must have
patience till luck turns, and then we shall have an opportunity of winning
back the principles we have lost, for this is a game where principles are at
stake."
-Thomas Jefferson
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| User: "Patriot Games" |
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| Title: Re: Perverted Justice |
09 Aug 2007 05:09:53 PM |
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"Gandalf Grey" <gandalfgrey@infectedmail.com> wrote in message
news:46bb467e$0$32652$9a6e19ea@news.newshosting.com...
Perverted Justice
Created Aug 8 2007 - 9:14am
NEW YORK--"This is not a crime about thought," says the assistant U.S.
attorney. Then what is it?
Its a crime of conspiracy to commit.
He should get the death penalty.
"This defendant took action and he offered himself to a terrorist
organization," explains the prosecutor. But all the "action" took place in
the would-be jihadi's brain. There was no terrorist act. There was no
crime.
Yes there was.
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