Jose Padilla has been found GUILTY on all three counts.....along with his two co-conspirators.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070816/...a_padilla_dc_2


"Jurors in Miami found him guilty of conspiracy to murder, kidnap and maim, conspiracy to provide material support for terrorism, and providing material support for terrorism.

Padilla was arrested in 2002 and held as an "enemy combatant" by the Bush administration."

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"This is a time for a national imperative not to fail in Iraq." Condoleeza Rice, January 11, 2007

See how easy that is? Due process. What a concept.

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I wasn't born with enough middle fingers.

Dang, stekim beat me to it.

Exhibit A of how actually wanting us to respect the law and civil liberties is not somehow being "soft" on terrorism. As if the only way we can be safe is to jail citizens indefinitely without charge simply because the president says so.

I wonder if he'll get credit for time served?

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Man up.

And don't you get the warm and fuzzies knowing he's actually a terrorist as opposed to merely someone called that by the Administration? After all, anyone can be labeled a terrorist.

This case proved you don't have to resort to third world tactics. You can fight terrorism while still maintaining proper and necessary legal protections. Ones we claim to be sending people to die for. I'm shocked I tell you. Shocked.

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I wasn't born with enough middle fingers.

How exactly does this conviction "prove" anything with respect to whether or not Padilla should/could have been held as an enemy combatant? It doesn't.

No one should be held as an "enemy combatant". But my post never even used the term. What this case proved is that you can maintain the legal concepts you claim to cherish while still jailing terrorists. Which is all many of us were claiming to begin with. I don't trust the government to decide such things on its own. And they don't have to. This case is a win all the way around.

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I wasn't born with enough middle fingers.

But had SOME Dems prevailed, Padilla wouldn't have been held at all.

On the "time served"......don't count on it. LIFE with no chance of parole.

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"This is a time for a national imperative not to fail in Iraq." Condoleeza Rice, January 11, 2007

Name one person who claimed he should not have been held.

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I wasn't born with enough middle fingers.

No, your post used "you don't have to resort to third world tactics" -- what precisely are you referring to, if not his being held as an enemy combatant?

That was never an issue.

I mean, we could conduct an entire war through the legal process, trying and jailing the enemy as they gun down our citizens. We might take a single example to prove its possible, but as with Padilla, I doubt anyone would challenge that it's possible to jail enemies through the legal system.

The real question is what the *best* way to deal with combatants is -- and this case does very little to sway opinion in either direction.

Oh, I got you. That's fair. I was speaking more generally about the thought that one needs to jail people without due process to fight terrorism, no matter what you call them. But since that does apply to enemy combatants I'm fine using the term.

Strawman. I never suggested any such thing. If they are engaged in military operations treat them as such. War away. But that does not apply to this case. He was plotting a dirty bomb attack. That is a crime. Criminals are tried in this country.

That was not the issue I was addressing. But I'll answer the question. One could argue the best way to deal with the homeless problem is simply to shoot them all. Problem solved. Cheap, quick and easy. But most folks won't go along with that. So the real question is not simply how best to deal with a problem. It's how to best deal with a problem given a particular set of parameters. In the case of people like Padilla I think the parameters should include following laws and standards we have established over 200+ years and claim to respect.

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I wasn't born with enough middle fingers.