How many terrorists convicted in the US?

[PhillyKev 0]

So, given that Ashcroft is leaving after having completed the job of securing us from terror and crime, can anyone tell me how many terrorists have been convicted in the US in the past 4 years?

[nacmacfeegle 0]

oooh, oooh, choose me, choose me I know the answer to this one.....

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He who receives an idea from me, receives instruction himself without lessening mine; as he who lights his taper at mine, receives light without darkening me. Thomas Jefferson

[mr2mk1g 10]

Dunno about convicting them... but you've got a couple of hundred possible terrorists held in prison without charge.

Course no one knows if they're actually terrorists as the govt. hasn't tried and convicted them of anything.

[gmanpilot 0]

I don't know the specific answer to your question and I'm definitely not a fan of Ashcroft, but I think the more appropriate question is this: How many terrorists have been stopped or prevented from committing acts of terror in the US?

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-There's always free cheese in a mouse trap.

[PhillyKev 0]

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I think the more appropriate question is this: How many terrorists have been stopped or prevented from committing acts of terror in the US?

I think the more appropriate question is:

How many terrorists have been stopped or prevented from committing acts of terror in the US through our constitutionally based legal system?

Let me fill in the blanks for you. The answer is ZERO. There hasn't been one single conviction of anyone for terrorism in the US.

So now the question is....are our leaders ineffective at catching and prosecuting terrorists? Or, does stopping terrorists require working outside of the legal system guaranteed by our constitution for the last 200+ years?

Now, that leads to one further question, if the answer to that last is YES, we need to suspend certain aspects of the constitution in order to effectively stop terrorists, is that acceptable to you?

[crozby 0]

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So now the question is....are our leaders ineffective at catching and prosecuting terrorists? Or, does stopping terrorists require working outside of the legal system guaranteed by our constitution for the last 200+ years?

There is a third option which is that the organisation called Al-Quaeda and the terrorist 'cells' simply do not exist in the way the US government claims they do. It is an imaginary threat much like the Soviet Union was.

[gmanpilot 0]

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There is a third option which is that the organisation called Al-Quaeda and the terrorist 'cells' simply do not exist in the way the US government claims they do. It is an imaginary threat much like the Soviet Union was.

That, I can tell you with 100% certainty, is unfortunately not the case.

_________________________________________
-There's always free cheese in a mouse trap.

[AndyMan 7]

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Dunno about convicting them... but you've got a couple of hundred possible terrorists held in prison without charge.

Since the supreme court ruled that these "terrorists" had to go through the minimal of hearings, 129 of them have been released, because there was absolutely NO evidence. None, zilch, nada.

Prisoners continue to be released almost daily, because there is no evidence.

The fact that there is absolutely no evidence for so many Guantanamo imates, should scare you FAR more than any terrorist group.

_Am

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You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

[crozby 0]

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That, I can tell you with 100% certainty, is unfortunately not the case.

Well where is the evidence then?

[PhillyKev 0]

How about taking the third option/conspiracy theory to another thread?

I'm trying to find out if people think that our efforts to catch terrorists in the US are either a complete failure or not. And if not, and we are indeed somehow stopping terrorists that are in the US through other means than the court system, how those efforts jibe with consititutional protections.

[lawrocket 3]

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Dunno about convicting them... but you've got a couple of hundred possible terrorists held in prison without charge.

Course no one knows if they're actually terrorists as the govt. hasn't tried and convicted them of anything.

Dang. You beat me to it. Why try someone when there are memos suggesting that you do not have to?

You can only lose a game if you play it, so keep them locked up without the need for a conviction.

My wife is hotter than your wife.

[TypicalFish 0]

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How about taking the third option/conspiracy theory to another thread?

I'm trying to find out if people think that our efforts to catch terrorists in the US are either a complete failure or not. And if not, and we are indeed somehow stopping terrorists that are in the US through other means than the court system, how those efforts jibe with consititutional protections.

This is predicated on the idea that there have been efforts by terrorists to carry out attacks... Think about it, is their agenda to win by attrition, killing as many Americans as possible? I think not, it would be a losing game no matter how many airplanes they flew into buildings... The agenda of a terrorist is to induce fear in a populace; a task that the 9/11 attacks did (and continue to do) quite effectively... Why attack again? People are still terrified and reactive, the election was just won (in part) on that fear... Another attack would just galvanize a harsher response and at this point would do their cause more harm than good...

Just food for thought.

"I gargle no man's balls..." ussfpa on SOCNET

[gmanpilot 0]

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Think about it, is their agenda to win by attrition, killing as many Americans as possible? I think not, it would be a losing game no matter how many airplanes they flew into buildings...

Your point is popular, albeit incorrect. Consider the following quotes:
The real matter is the extinction of America, and God willing, it will fall to the ground.
—Mullah Mohammed Omar, Taliban leader
We are not fighting so that you will offer us something. We are fighting to eliminate you.
—Hussein Massawi, former Hezbollah leader

Now multiply those sentiments about a millionfold, and you begin to get a picture of the murderous hatred these groups have for all Americans.

_________________________________________
-There's always free cheese in a mouse trap.

[gmanpilot 0]

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Well where is the evidence then?

I'm not telling, and you can't make me.

_________________________________________
-There's always free cheese in a mouse trap.

[billvon 3,090]

Consider these quotes by americans who feel a similar way about arabs:

"I see the rise of Islam to destroy Israel . . . I see that as Satan’s plan to prevent the return of Jesus Christ the Lord." - Pat Robertson

"We should invade their countries, kill their leaders and convert them to Christianity." - Ann Coulter

"Thats it, these fuckers need to die!" - Funks

"We should drop the largest hydrogen bomb known to man on that fucking place.. Pull the troops.. and BOOM!!! Glass parking lot!! Those coward, bastard mother fuckers!!!! Let the fucking Marines Loose!!! Fuck those assholes!!!" - Rhino

Now multiply these sentiments about a millionfold, and you might start to see why Arabs think we are the enemy.

[gmanpilot 0]

An important distinction, as I see it Bill, is that even whack jobs like Robertson and Coulter do not advocate the elimination of all Muslims. Radical muslim terrorists, however, not only advocate the elimination of all Americans and American allies, but they are planning, training, practicing, and fully intend to carry out attacks in furtherance of that objective. If you can't see the difference, then it's on you. I am not a sabre rattler or a hawk by nature, but I am thankful that those people whose job it is to prevent those attacks do see the distinction.

_________________________________________
-There's always free cheese in a mouse trap.

[Botellines 0]

There will always be a small tiny diference beetwen you and them that will allow some people to rationalize the issue and justify their actions.

[billvon 3,090]

>Radical muslim terrorists, however, not only advocate the elimination
>of all Americans and American allies, but they are planning, training,
> practicing, and fully intend to carry out attacks in furtherance of that
> objective.

And radical christian terrorists (like McVeigh) want to kill as many people as possible - and have. But they are the exception, not the rule.

My point is not that either group wants to kill all the members of the other group. The point is that you used the statements of some terrorist lunatics and used that to extrapolate to millions of people. That's no more valid than taking a christian's statements and extrapolating _them_ to millions of people. Since people here have advocated nuclear annhiliation of Iraq, does that mean all americans advocate that, or even all marines? Since Zarquai wants to kill all americans, does that mean all muslims do, or even all insurgents?

Muslims are not the enemy. Terrorists of any religion/nationality are, and they come in all shapes and sizes. If we are ever to have peace in Iraq, we have to remember that.

[gmanpilot 0]

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Muslims are not the enemy.

I never said they were. I said radical muslim terrorists are. Most Muslims do not support murder, just as most Christians do not.

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My point is not that either group wants to kill all the members of the other group.

Read those quotes again. They came directly from the leaders of the terrorists group, and I promise you, they do want to kill you. I did extrapolate those statements a "millionfold" to all of the future graduates of the madrassas and training camps, and I meant it. I did not intend to include the hundreds of millions of Muslims who are good people and just trying to get by. There is a huge difference. The bottom line is you just can't equate a dufus like Pat Robertson to a maniac like Bin Laden.

_________________________________________
-There's always free cheese in a mouse trap.