Now See, Was That So Hard?

Jose Padilla Found Guilty on All Counts in Terror Case : After a day-and-a-half of deliberations following a three-month trial, the jury found that Padilla, 36, joined a cell to provide money and recruits to terrorist groups. Also convicted in the case were Adham Amin Hassoun, 45, a Lebanese-born Palestinian who worked in the United States as a computer programmer, and Kifah Wael Jayyousi, also 45, a naturalized U.S. citizen from Jordan who ran a purported relief organization that prosecutors said provided support to terrorist groups.

See? You CAN try terrorist suspects, to a jury, using rules of evidence, with the defendant represented by counsel and everything right out there in the open. The whole "We have to be able to just grab someone declare them an enemy combatant, and make them disappear or else we can't fight terrorism" bullshit turned out to be completely unnecessary. Something I said back in December 2005 bears repeating today:

Despite the hysterical chest-pounding of the drooling ya-hoos that call themselves “Patriots” or “conservatives,” no American wants to see terrorists just let go. If they truly are terrorists, we want them caught, tried, convicted and put away. We’re just not ready to trust the government’s bald assertion that someone is a terrorist just because Alberto Gonzales or some other appointed or elected official says so.