Remember when the Republicans (Dick “Go F*** Yourself” Cheney) in particular used to sneer at the Democrats for advocating a “law enforcement” approach to fighting the war on terror? Rather than, say going over to some indeterminate Middle Eastern country (preferably one with lots of oli, such as Iraq) killing its people (who had nothing to do with any terrorist attacks on America) and bombing it into rubble (the Tom Friedman “Suck on this!” method of terrorism fighting)? Well, all the Bush method got us was a bunch of terrorists and innocent people detained all over the world whom we can’t prosecute in a US court because we tortured them. The law enforcement model on the other hand …
BOSTON — A man living in suburban Boston was arrested on Wednesday on federal terrorism charges of conspiring to attack people at a shopping mall in the United States and two members of the executive branch of the federal government.
The man, Tarek Mehanna, 27, was charged with conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists. The conspiracy occurred from 2001 to 2008, said the acting United States attorney, Michael K. Loucks, at a news conference here Wednesday.
Mr. Loucks said Mr. Mehanna had conspired with others — including Ahmad Abousamra, who has fled to Syria — and had “multiple conversations” to carry out attacks in and outside of the United States.
“The conversations went so far as to discuss the logistics of a mall attack including coordination, weapons needed and the possibility of attacking emergency responders,” Mr. Loucks said, with plans to “randomly shoot people” in a mall.
However, Mr. Loucks said, Mr. Mehanna, a United States citizen, could not obtain weapons to carry out the attack.
The authorities did not name the two members of the executive branch whom Mr. Mehanna allegedly had targeted; they are no longer in office, and Mr. Loucks said neither had ever been in danger.
So for years this guy was running free around Bush’s America, no doubt trying to find a way to kill Bush and Cheney (my speculation on the two former members of the executive branch he targeted, but you are free to make your own guesses). Yet, somehow Democrats are weak on National Defense because they prefer to employ methods that actually work to arrest and convict terrorists, who are after all, criminals. Only in America my friends.
