He worked for Osama bin Laden. He had a blasting cap in his room, and bought the gas tanks used in the truck bomb. And he is acquitted of everything but conspiracy.
This case shows how unequipped civilian courts are to deal with cases like this. "Gitmo detainee acquitted of all but 1 charge in NY," by Tom Hays for The Associated Press, November 17 (thanks to Sr. Soph):
NEW YORK -- The first Guantanamo detainee to face a civilian trial was acquitted Wednesday of most charges he helped unleash death and destruction on two U.S. embassies in Africa in 1998 - an opening salvo in al-Qaida's campaign to kill Americans.A federal jury convicted Ahmed Ghailani of one count of conspiracy and acquitted him of all other counts, including murder and murder conspiracy, in the embassy bombings. The anonymous federal jury deliberated over seven days, with a juror writing a note to the judge saying she felt threatened by other jurors.
Prosecutors had branded Ghailani a cold-blooded terrorist. The defense portrayed him as a clueless errand boy, exploited by senior al-Qaida operatives and framed by evidence from contaminated crime scenes.
The trial at a lower Manhattan courthouse had been viewed as a possible test case for President Barack Obama administration's aim of putting other terror detainees - including self-professed Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Sheik Mohammed and four other terrorism suspects held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba - on trial on U.S. soil.
Ghailani's prosecution also demonstrated some of the constitutional challenges the government would face if that happens. On the eve of his trial last month, the judge barred the government from calling a key witness because the witness had been identified while Ghailani was being held at a secret CIA camp where harsh interrogation techniques were used....
Prosecutors had alleged Ghailani helped an al-Qaida cell buy a truck and components for explosives used in a suicide bombing in his native Tanzania on Aug. 7, 1998. The attack in Dar es Salaam and a nearly simultaneous bombing in Nairobi, Kenya, killed 224 people, including 12 Americans.
The day before the bombings, Ghailani boarded a one-way flight to Pakistan under an alias, prosecutors said. While on the run, he spent time in Afghanistan as a cook and bodyguard for Osama bin Laden and later as a document forger for al-Qaida, authorities said....
"This is Ahmed Ghailani. This is al-Qaida. This is a terrorist. This is a killer," Assistant U.S. Attorney Harry Chernoff said in closing arguments.
The jury heard a former al-Qaida member who has cooperated with the government describe how bin Laden took the group in a more radical direction with a 1998 fatwa, or religious edict, against Americans....
A prosecutor read aloud the fatwa, which called on Muslims to rise up and "kill the Americans and plunder their money wherever and whenever they can find it."
Other witnesses described how Ghailani bought gas tanks used in the truck bomb with cash supplied by the terror group, how the FBI found a blasting cap stashed in his room at a cell hideout and how he lied to family members about his escape, telling them he was going to Yemen to start a new life....
"Call him a fall guy. Call him a pawn," lawyer Peter Quijano said in his closing argument. "But don't call him guilty."
Quijano argued the investigation in Africa was too chaotic to produce reliable evidence. He said local authorities and the FBI "trampled all over" unsecured crime scenes during searches in Tanzania.
Quijano argued the investigation in Africa was too chaotic to produce reliable evidence. He said local authorities and the FBI "trampled all over" unsecured crime scenes during searches in Tanzania.
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Well, there you are! Until we can ensure that scenes of terrorist attacks all over the world are treated like cases on "CSI", we shouldn't be so rash as to convict a single Jihad terrorist...sarc/off
"On the eve of his trial last month, the judge barred the government from calling a key witness because the witness had been identified while Ghailani was being held at a secret CIA camp where harsh interrogation techniques were used...."
I rather doubt they were harsh enough for my tastes, but regardless, maybe someone can explain to me exactly what this has to do with anything.
I guess it's true. These trials are not about convicting terrorists, but about indicting the US government, especially the Bush administration, of wrongdoing.
"This case shows how unequipped civilian courts are to deal with cases like this."
And it also shows how Holder & the anointed one are unequipped to deal with cases like this and their jobs in general.
two ways to look at this abomination of justice:
1. "if things get a little rough politically, i will side with the muslimes" this was basically the gist of what the imposter in chief has said a while back, isn't it?
ergo, the little slimeballs that take orders from hussein,will follow suit with a very eager 'yessir!, yessir!' (actually in this case it may just sound more like yasser...)
so the way things are lined up... legally, muslimes are set to win ...
2. i believe that there is a grass root forming that goes BEYOND the malcontent of politics as recently seen in the midterm elections.
people that have not heard of sioa, robert spencer and pamela geller are ALL saying the same thing without realizing that there is a multitude that thinks and feels exactly as they do.
and this is important, because once sufficient numbers are reached (critical mass), after that point, this movement will continue to expand by its own momentum.
and those in this movemnt would WANT to see justice carried out, not this hussein caused misscarriage of justice (hey, i could be pc too, can't i?)
this stealth jihad (which is more and more 'in your face jihad') is going to come to a screeching halt...
1776, 1789, and today, have a common thread,
two ways to look at this abomination of justice:
1. "if things get a little rough politically, i will side with the muslimes" this was basically the gist of what the imposter in chief has said a while back, isn't it?
ergo, the little slimeballs that take orders from hussein,will follow suit with a very eager 'yessir!, yessir!' (actually in this case it may just sound more like yasser...)
so the way things are lined up... legally, muslimes are set to win ...
2. i believe that there is a grass root forming that goes BEYOND the malcontent of politics as recently seen in the midterm elections.
people that have not heard of sioa, robert spencer and pamela geller are ALL saying the same thing without realizing that there is a multitude that thinks and feels exactly as they do.
and this is important, because once sufficient numbers are reached (critical mass), after that point, this movement will continue to expand by its own momentum.
and those in this movemnt would WANT to see justice carried out, not this hussein caused misscarriage of justice (hey, i could be pc too, can't i?)
this stealth jihad (which is more and more 'in your face jihad') is going to come to a screeching halt...
1776, 1789, and today, have a common thread,
Maybe the guy really isn't guilty. Should the US be going on a witch hunt and punish people whom we merely strongly suspect they are guilty, just in case? That's not my idea of justice.
The unanimous jury system is fundamentally flawed. One recalcitrant jurist with an agenda can thwart the dispensation of justice in America. It's bad enough for murder trials and such, but there is a war being waged on America with mass murder as a routine objective.
We simply can't afford the luxury of civilian trials for terrorists. But such basic wisdom escapes this Administration.
That was the intention all along. The Muslim POTUS and Holder are sabotaging the system to get Islamic terrorists off the hook.
If anyone had any illusions about it they shoud see all doubt removed. The )-turd gotta go!
A look at the composition of the jury would be interesting. "12 Angry Men" works both ways.
This trail show that our new PRESIDENT idear of civil trail work. The milital t6rail are kaqngoo court.
" This trial show the our new PRESIDENT idear of civil trail work ".
How so ? This terrorist nearly walked away, free as a bird. Besides, he is a foreign enemy combatant, who deserves NONE of the US Constitutions protections.
But because he's one of your brothers, you will never say anything negative about him.
Your terrorist brother, has blood on his hands.
"our" new president? Oh, please--How long have you lived in America? How is it possible in the length of that time that you've failed to learn English?
By the way, he's not my president. I didn't vote for him, and as far as I'm concerned the US has no president.
Yet another travesty. If we had a military tribunal, this puke-bag would have been found guilty on all 280 counts.
Our liberal, left-leaning, tolerant and understanding, politically correct society will be the cause of our downfall & collapse.
SHAME ON US FOR OUR STUPIDITY!!
Whats a kaqngoo, barbarian? And get the hell out of the West, and back amongst your fellow infidel-hating savages in Pakistan.
The Jury here must have been really struggling with each other to find a verdict. They confirm that he was guilty of conspiracy. They Had to. After all, there was overwhelming physical evidence for them to consider such as Ghailani purchasing the gas tanks that caused many deaths, and in possession of a blasting cap in his apartment. I don't have a blasting cap in my apartment, and I do not recall ever purchasing gas tanks to be used in an attack on an Embassy. It is not hard at all to see guilt here. So, how do you find him not-guilty of any other charges?
Some of the jurors were undoubtedly expressing their hatred of George Bush and America, some were probably intimidated by the anger and hostility of those same jurors, some were possibly intimidated by the predictable hysterical Islamic backlash of a guilty verdict, and one or two probably fought for justice and settled for a compromise verdict in the face of no other point of agreement. I am anxious to see how this played out in the deliberation room.
Whatever took place, we have undermined our military's ability to protect us with this verdict, and it is shameful.