is it October?

[winterbadger]

from CNN: American al Qaeda faces treason

American al Qaeda spokesman Adam Yahiye Gadahn is to face treason charges, federal sources told CNN on Wednesday.

The 28-year-old California native who has appeared in five al Qaeda videos will also be charged with offering material support for terrorism, the two sources said.

His indictment was to be returned in Los Angeles and will be announced at 4 p.m. ET in Washington by the Justice Department, one of the sources said.

Wow! A public announcement of a treason trial! This is important news. Did they just capture him? Did they just find new evidence? Did they only just now find out who he was?

No.

According to the story, the FBI has been looking for this guy since 2004. Yes, looking. He's not in custody. They have no idea where he is. He appeared about a month ago in an al Qa'ida video, calling on Americans to become Muslims, but he's appeared on AQ videos before, so this is nothing new.

So...they don't have the guy; they have no new information on him; they have no new charges to bring. Why announce an indictment now?

Oh, right. It's October.

Comments

My short list for who should be tried for treason...

[snolan.livejournal.com]

Here's my list of who needs to be tried for treason and given a fair trial:

Paul Wolfowitz
George W. Bush
Donald Rumsfeld
Richard Perl
Karl Rove
Richard Cheney
James Baker

Order matters; my bet is Wolfowitz would break when found guilty and plea bargain by trading evidence in the other investigations, and so would Bush.

They'd probably only find Baker guilty of much smaller crimes, but the investigation and trial would reveal other targets and conspiracies.

Far bigger criminals than this guy Adam Yahiye Gadahn. Interesting; since when did it become a crime to ask people to convert to a different faith and to ask American soldiers to give up their enlistments and/or commissions? Yes, I know it's a crime for American soldiers to desert - but that is a different issue.

Hell, I wonder if I am treasonous for suggesting that American soldiers should suddenly have gay feelings and an irrepressible urge to tell people about it? I also actively try to convert people to Buddhism, therefor I am a traitor... ruh roh - better work on those neck muscles... oh wait, they don't hang traitors anymore... they elect them to office... damn, that's even worse punishment than hanging!

Sorry to free associate on you, but this is more "FUD" spreading. You nailed it.

For those who don't know "FUD" is a slang term used by techies to describe the habit of some people to spread fear, uncertainty, and doubt when they have not done the real research or thinking to back up their position.