"Material support" are two fairly innocuous words. However, in the post 9/11 terrorism hysteria in the US they could become, no pun intended, singularly "material".
Andy Worthington, writingin "Fahad Hashmi and Terrorist Hysteria in US Courts" on CommonDreams:
"In Hashmi’s case, it seems probable that he accepted a plea bargain on the eve of his trial because, as a result, he will receive a sentence of 15 years compared to the 70 years that he was facing if convicted. This is in spite of the fact that the only charges against him are that in 2004, while he was living in London as a student, Junaid Babar, an acquaintance of his from Queens, who stayed with him for two weeks, “had luggage containing raincoats, ponchos, and waterproof socks (what the government terms ‘military gear’) and that later Babar delivered these materials to the third-ranking member of al-Qaeda in South Waziristan, Pakistan. In addition, Babar borrowed Hashmi’s cell phone and then allegedly used it to call other conspirators in terrorist plots.”
Read this more than troubling piece, in full, here.
AlJazeera also deals with the Hashmi case. One can only shake one's haed in disbelief on how the US has handled it. Justice it most certainly isn't! And just reflect how this will play out in Muslim countries.
Andy Worthington, writingin "Fahad Hashmi and Terrorist Hysteria in US Courts" on CommonDreams:
"In Hashmi’s case, it seems probable that he accepted a plea bargain on the eve of his trial because, as a result, he will receive a sentence of 15 years compared to the 70 years that he was facing if convicted. This is in spite of the fact that the only charges against him are that in 2004, while he was living in London as a student, Junaid Babar, an acquaintance of his from Queens, who stayed with him for two weeks, “had luggage containing raincoats, ponchos, and waterproof socks (what the government terms ‘military gear’) and that later Babar delivered these materials to the third-ranking member of al-Qaeda in South Waziristan, Pakistan. In addition, Babar borrowed Hashmi’s cell phone and then allegedly used it to call other conspirators in terrorist plots.”
Read this more than troubling piece, in full, here.
AlJazeera also deals with the Hashmi case. One can only shake one's haed in disbelief on how the US has handled it. Justice it most certainly isn't! And just reflect how this will play out in Muslim countries.
Comments