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You are here: Home / Politics / War on Terror / War on Terror aka GSAVE® / How Did I Miss This?

How Did I Miss This?

by John Cole|  July 15, 20054:30 pm| 43 Comments

This post is in: War on Terror aka GSAVE®

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Gonna be a rough spell in the big house for this one, I think:

Saying his words steered young men into terrorist training camps that are the lifeblood of a movement that plants bombs on subways and trains, Judge Leonie M. Brinkema sentenced an American Islamic scholar to life in prison Wednesday.

Ali al-Timimi, 42, of Fairfax, Va., who had ties to a now-defunct Pittsburgh-based magazine that advocated holy war, was convicted in a lengthy jury trial in federal court here last spring of recruiting a group of northern Virginia men to travel to Pakistan and train to take up arms for the Taliban. The men, who played paintball and went to shooting ranges to train for holy war, were dubbed the Virginia Paintball Jihad.

Before the trial, nine of al-Timimi’s followers were convicted or pleaded guilty in the conspiracy prosecutors said grew in the shadow of the nation’s capital in the days before 9/11 and blossomed on al-Timimi’s advice in the week after the terrorist attacks.

Al-Timimi’s conviction for soliciting treason and other charges marked the first post-9/11 trial in which the government won a terrorism verdict for actions tied to words designed to aid the enemy, rather than actual deeds such as providing money, equipment or engaging in combat.

Am I the only one who missed this?

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Reader Interactions

43Comments

  1. 1.

    SoCalJustice

    July 15, 2005 at 4:39 pm

    There was a great article in the Legal Times (dated July 4th, just over a week before the sentencing), discussing al-Timimi’s lawyer’s plans for an appeal of the conviction:

    Putting Islam on the Stand

    “Timimi’s lawyer, Edward MacMahon Jr. [note: does he solicit clients by telling them they may have already won $1M? I’m sure he’s never heard that one before], is seeking to overturn Timimi’s conviction, citing prosecutorial misconduct and the prejudicial impact of statements he says portrayed Islam as a violent religion. One specific objection: that Assistant U.S. Attorney Gordon Kromberg instructed the jury in his closing argument that Timimi, a devout Muslim, would lie to jurors because the jurors were “kafir” — or nonbelievers.”

  2. 2.

    Al Maviva

    July 15, 2005 at 4:46 pm

    C’mon, John. There’s no terror threat. It’s all about the Oiiiillll. This is just another one of John Asscraft’s vendettas against Muslims because he’s a raving fascist bible thumper. The prosecution was only meant to distract us from the fact that Karl Rove just set us up the bomb with the rapidly fading Joe Wilson. Wilson vote for Bush I in 1992, so he’s clearly a Rove tool – how could we have been so foolish as to trust him?

    /paranoid delusional political fantasies
    /sarcasm

  3. 3.

    Jimmy Jazz

    July 15, 2005 at 4:53 pm

    I tremble before the Virginia Paintball Jihad.

  4. 4.

    The Islamofascists

    July 15, 2005 at 5:00 pm

    We’re coming for YOU, Darrell!

  5. 5.

    jdm

    July 15, 2005 at 5:08 pm

    I agree with Jimmy J. Little brown people with quirky religions playing white people games as part of their training to eventually kill are cute, endearing even. They should under no circumstances be taken seriously until after the fact of a mass murder. Whereupon, with any luck, they’ll be dead and won’t be able to contradict the accusations of blame directed at Bush, Rove, Rethuglicans, poverty, and, of course, the Joos.

    But nothing, of course, would ever happen. Never.

  6. 6.

    Sarge6

    July 15, 2005 at 5:13 pm

    Actually, prison being what it is, I’m sure he’ll quickly find a jailhouse cadre who will elevate him to some kind of spiritual leader.

  7. 7.

    Jimmy Jazz

    July 15, 2005 at 5:19 pm

    Hey jdm, relax your sphincter just a bit, m’kay? I’m glad they caught these guys before they did commit any violence, but “Virginia Paintball Jihad” is pretty hilarious, and I didn’t coin the name.

  8. 8.

    jdm

    July 15, 2005 at 5:51 pm

    Sphincter’s fine, JJ – it’s so hard to know what you lefties/Democrats/non-Republicans/Darrell-tormenters find funny and what you take seriously.

    Rove: serious. Virginia Paintball Jihad: funny.

    Do I got it?

  9. 9.

    Jimmy Jazz

    July 15, 2005 at 6:01 pm

    Sphincter’s fine, JJ – it’s so hard to know what you lefties/Democrats/non-Republicans/Darrell-tormenters find funny and what you take seriously.

    Well, if you’re looking for a serious answer to this, if people get hurt I’m not likely to find humor. “I heart Gitmo” t shirts and jokes about the London bombing are in equally poor taste to me (and you can make whatever you will out of the fact that the first are common and the second are nonexistent). But I’m a big fan of absurdity.

  10. 10.

    Don

    July 15, 2005 at 6:19 pm

    It’s been in the news here in Fairfax but I guess it’s because he’s a local boy. I personally don’t know what to make of it. Obviously I don’t want people organizing violence against Americans/America, but so far every description I have heard has been that he was advocating violence. I’m not sure where we draw the line on throwing people in jail for being loudmouthed jerks. We’re exceedingly careful about the ones who scream for killing Abortion Doctors – if it’s not a very direct conspiracy to commit a crime we let them be their asshole selves. Would we be less careful if it was all doctors? All blondes? Men? Where’s the line between those guys and calling for violence against Americans in general?

    I don’t have an answer or a better solution but jailing people for speech, even speech this incendiary and repugnant, makes me nervous. Perhaps there’s more to the story than I’m getting on the radio.

  11. 11.

    Steve

    July 15, 2005 at 6:19 pm

    Suggesting that the defendant would be likely to lie because of his religion is an issue that an appeals court might take an interest in, unfortunately. Get a jump on the competition and start penning those screeds against activist judges now.

  12. 12.

    Don

    July 15, 2005 at 6:29 pm

    It occurs to me in re-reading the story that perhaps we shouldn’t jail this guy, we should put him back on the street. He got 9 jerkoffs who had been living here in this country and thought freedom was bad to get the fuck out.

    Seriously, is spending money to keep this guy in prison the best plan? If we knew what he was doing wouldn’t it have been a better plan to keep an eye on him and the people he convinced to go overseas to train? The no-fly list as it is serves little purpose but if we flagged THESE guys to not let back into the country it might have some value. Wanna go get your ass shot in some backwater? Okie dokie, ta ta. Oh, you want to come BACK now? Hmmm, nope, gonna have to give you a big no on that one.

    Instead we’re now sharing the cost of feeding and housing this clown. I’m not sure I think this is an improvement.

  13. 13.

    jdm

    July 15, 2005 at 7:37 pm

    Actually, JJ, I’m just rattling your cage. Don’t make no never no mind.

  14. 14.

    ppgaz

    July 15, 2005 at 10:04 pm

    This reads like something out of a Joseph Heller novel.

    I’m very sure that putting obnoxious paintball-playin Muslims in jail will help keep America strong and free.

    Remember, in this new world, the appearance of doing something good is not just enough, it’s better than actually doing something good. Here, we’ve sentenced a man in a roach costume to prison, to protect us from actual roaches.

    It’s the new kabuki government.

    In the next scene, the troupe will act out the phrase, “The insurgency is in its last throes.”

  15. 15.

    Birkel

    July 15, 2005 at 10:30 pm

    ppgaz,

    I’m sure if they were living in your neighborhood you’d be happy to have them play “paint ball” with your wife/husband, kids or family. ‘Cause, you know, they’re just good old boys, never meaning no harm, beats all you never saw, been in trouble with the law, since the day they was born….

    Or something.

  16. 16.

    ppgaz

    July 15, 2005 at 11:12 pm

    Uh, yes of course, Birkel. One or two games of paintball, and my kids would turn into terrorists.

    Thank Dog that good citizens like you are watching out for us.

    Fucking idiot.

  17. 17.

    Ray

    September 24, 2005 at 10:52 pm

    Still typing ====> ppgaz. All type and hype. You’d be the one at the military recruiting station with your code pink sign.

  18. 18.

    jonas

    July 20, 2022 at 11:21 am

    Masterpiece!

  19. 19.

    Old School

    July 20, 2022 at 11:21 am

    You missed this because SNL hasn’t been good since the Glory Days when you were 20, so why does anyone bother to watch anymore?

  20. 20.

    AJ formerly of the Mustard Search and Rescue team

    July 20, 2022 at 11:27 am

    @Old School: precisely, but I do love seeing the rare great nugget like this.

    As a Canadian and Issa Rae fan I love Bonjour Hi.

  21. 21.

    TaMara

    July 20, 2022 at 11:32 am

    OMG, I laughed much too hard at that.

  22. 22.

    Benw

    July 20, 2022 at 11:34 am

    David Harbour is a treasure!

  23. 23.

    Raoul Paste

    July 20, 2022 at 11:35 am

    First rate

  24. 24.

    RedDirtGirl

    July 20, 2022 at 11:35 am

    When ever I watch current SNL clips I find myself wondering if the actors were always so obvious about reading from cue cards…

    Has that always been the case? Because it drives me nuts!

  25. 25.

    JeanneT

    July 20, 2022 at 11:39 am

    I don’t believe I’ll be showing that to my 3 yr old grandkid, even though he likes Oscar a lot!

  26. 26.

    The Moar You Know

    July 20, 2022 at 11:41 am

    I would watch that movie on opening day.  Awesome.

  27. 27.

    CaseyL

    July 20, 2022 at 11:43 am

    Oh. My. God.

    It is amazing as a satirical work, very well done (production, script, etc.) but somehow so heartbreaking.

  28. 28.

    different-church-lady

    July 20, 2022 at 11:45 am

    @Old School:

    hasn’t been good since the Glory Days when you were 20

    The funny thing is this statement applies no matter what your age is.

  29. 29.

    oatler

    July 20, 2022 at 11:48 am

    @Old School:

    “SNL hasn’t been good since the Glory Days”

    Roman tombstone fragment 3 AD

  30. 30.

    Matt McIrvin

    July 20, 2022 at 11:48 am

    As usual for SNL, they over-explain the set-up just a little, but they’re going for the broad audience.

  31. 31.

    clay

    July 20, 2022 at 11:57 am

    @Benw: I am just wrapping up a trip to London, and we saw Harbour and Bill Pullman on stage in a black family dramedy called The Mad House.  He, and the rest of the cast, was phenomenal.

  32. 32.

    BigJimSlade

    July 20, 2022 at 12:14 pm

    Yeah, I somehow caught that when it first aired – it’s so great!

    ️

  33. 33.

    Leto

    July 20, 2022 at 12:19 pm

    @RedDirtGirl: they’ve always been that obvious. Even going back to the “golden age” of 70s-80s SNL.

  34. 34.

    Butch

    July 20, 2022 at 12:19 pm

    @CaseyL: Yeah.  Not something I’ll watch a second time.

  35. 35.

    Baud

    July 20, 2022 at 12:20 pm

    That is very well done.

  36. 36.

    Scout211

    July 20, 2022 at 12:38 pm

    SNL digital shorts have always been really good.  Remember “Dick in a Box?”

    I love the new series of digital shorts called “please don’t destroy.”  All are very funny.  I’ve really enjoyed the ones I saw this season, I believe the first season for them. Here they are on youtube.

    please don’t destroy digital shorts

    ETA:

    A favorite featuring Taylor Swift  three sad virgins

    Oh and they have their own website:  please don’t destroy

  37. 37.

    Miss Bianca

    July 20, 2022 at 12:39 pm

    Oh, Jesus Christ, that’s hilarious.

  38. 38.

    glc

    July 20, 2022 at 1:04 pm

    As usual, BJ is the only site you need to remain fully informed on a wide variety of topics.

  39. 39.

    Belafon

    July 20, 2022 at 1:12 pm

    @CaseyL: My parents didn’t watch SNL back in the 70s and 80s. The one time I remember them trying to see what everyone was so excited about, we caught a skit where the doctor tells his patient that he only has a short time to live (like less than an hour), and, when the guy tries to leave to make the most of it, the elevator gets stuck.

    We never watched it again.

  40. 40.

    Yutsano

    July 20, 2022 at 2:38 pm

    @glc: A full service blog this is.

  41. 41.

    Bobby Thomson

    July 20, 2022 at 3:05 pm

    @Old School: no one goes there anymore because it’s too crowded

  42. 42.

    Ben Cisco

    July 20, 2022 at 6:57 pm

    I’m glad I put my tasty beverage down before watching this. Hysterical!!

  43. 43.

    Amir Khalid

    July 20, 2022 at 8:47 pm

    ! Video unavailable

    The uploader has not made this video available in your country

    I haz a sad.

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