The Threat of the Homegrown Jihadi Heart

The Justice Department has scored some serious jail time in their War on Terror at home.  Mind you, almost everyone serving time under terrorism-related charges since 9-11 has copped to plea bargains, thus sparing the Justice Department the effort of actually having to prove their cases.

In Lodi, where the Justice Department won their case against a young Muslim immigrant, they based their prosecution on his "Jihadi heart" rather than any real evidence against him.  And even in that case, a juror came forward and said that she was intimidated into voting for conviction by jurors who wanted to hang the accused even before the trial had commenced, and engaged in other misconduct.

And lest we forget the biggest feather in Bush's domestic terrorism-prevention cap, the 18 Middle Eastern men who were convicted for, in some ways, trying to purchase licenses to transport hazardous materials.  Even the prosecutors in those cases no longer pretend that it had anything to do with preventing terrorism.  The men, most of whom are on probation now, were mostly refugees of the first Gulf War and thought of America as their sanctuary.

So it should come as no surprise that the Justice Department has arrested seven members of a "terrorist cell" in Miami for allegedly plotting to blow up the Sears Tower.  Actually, the non-surprise lies in the apparent lack of anything much incriminating about the seven individuals other than the testimony of an informant in regard to their "Jihadi hearts".

Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez has admitted that the suspects lacked any weapons, explosives, knowledge of their supposed target, or even a basic strategy.  Justice Department officials have even balked at confirming whether or not their informant wore a wire, or if they are simply making arrests based on the informant's word.  In case anyone has forgotten, the Bush people have an abysmal history with their sourcing.

Of course, the Justice Department should be doing all it can to prevent terrorist attacks.  We just wish they were smarter, and more interested in preventing terrorism than making headlines to boost their dismal poll numbers.