Homeland Security

In federal court cases, it is illegal for the prosecution to go “judge shopping.” Federal prosecutors, however, did just that by maneuvering to have the case of alleged terrorist mastermind Jose Padilla heard before Judge Marcia G. Cooke. Why was the prosecution so confident Judge Cooke would do its bidding? more »

U.S. prisons have become the hothouses for growing hardened criminals and more than one Islamic extremist. Not unlike their counterparts in the Middle East, these young men live in poverty and filth. And like their “brothers” in the Middle East, they are often desperate, hopeless and filled with rage that could be channeled outward in acts condoned and even celebrated by radical Islam. Given the time and effort and large pool from which to choose, it’s surprising, however, how unsuccessful prison imams in the United States appear to have been in recruiting such vulnerable targets. more »

Jose Padilla’s sentence was the final act in the government’s five-year sideshow of unconstitutional bait-and-switches and Kafkaesque legal procedures, all beginning with the announcement of Padilla’s arrest on June 10, 2002. more »

I'm very excited and pleased to introduce today's guest poster, Danny Postel, who comes to us with some absolutely chilling revelations about the bad faith of the neoconservatives' supposed dedication to "freedom" (I know, I know: you're shocked). Danny is the author of Reading “Legitimation Crisis” in Tehran: Iran and the Future of Liberalism and is co-coordinator of the Committee for Academic and Intellectual Freedom of the International Society for Iranian Studies.
 —Rick Perlstein

By Danny Postel

During the week of October 22-26, an official announcement effuses, “The nation will be rocked by the biggest conservative campus protest ever – Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week, a wake-up call for Americans on 200 university and college campuses.” Ringmastered by David Horowitz, this circus will be performing under the tent of something called the "Terrorism Awareness Project.”

The purpose of this ballyhoolooza, we are told, is to confront the “Big Lies” of the Left regarding terrorism and militant Islam. Worthy subjects, to be sure. Indeed I would like to help the sponsors of the “wake-up call” promote awareness of them. Toward this end, let’s consider the American Right’s “special relationship” with one group of terrorists. more »