When Najibullah Zazi was initially arrested last year, the administration called the plot to carry out a suicide attack on New York Subways -- similar to the 7/7 attacks in London -- "operational rather than aspirational." From the details released yesterday, we now know that Zazi was a trained al-Qaeda operative who, enraged over civilian casualties in Afghanistan, had traveled to Pakistan to join the Taliban but was recruited by al-Qaeda, who trained him to carry out attacks.
Yesterday Attorney General Eric Holder announced Zazi's guilty plea along with a forceful defense of the criminal justice system as a weapon against terrorism:
In this case, as it has in so many other cases, the criminal justice system has proved to be an invaluable weapon for disrupting plots and incapacitating terrorists, one that works in concert with the intelligence community and our military. We will continue to use it to protect the American people from terrorism.
That's the polite way of putting it. This is what the Washington Post says happened.
Law enforcement sources, speaking on the condition of anonymity because the investigation continues, said Zazi began to accelerate his cooperation after authorities charged his Afghan-born father with crimes and threatened to charge his mother with immigration offenses -- options that are not available in the military justice system.
So, as with Umar Abdulmutallab, the government found where it could apply leverage and did so. As a result, Zazi has been providing intelligence -- and he will still spend the rest of his life in prison.
Again, the only reason Republicans are insisting on using military courts in all circumstances is because they "sound" tougher. In practice, civilian courts hand out harsher sentences and are better equipped to handle terrorism cases. They also provide better incentives for providing accurate information on the part of the defendants. Meanwhile, every conviction like this one is an indictment of the Obama administration's decision to keep the military commissions process alive.
-- A. Serwer
