Abu Ali: An Assasin-to-be Or A Joke?

Here is a good CBS News article about him.

The feds say that the Houston-born Abu Ali plotted to assassinate President Bush and to join and aid al Qaeda. They say that they found incriminating items at Abu Ali's home in Falls Church, Virginia (items which by themselves are not illegal to possess, you should know). They say that Abu Ali told his terror buddies that he wanted to become a terror planner like Muhammad Atta or Khalid Sheikh Muhammad; that he began living with known al Qaeda associates; and that he received money from those sinister folks to buy a laptop computer, a cell phone and some books that presumably were to be used in a terror plot here in the States.

As the case has often been with the Bush Administration, the omenous details might be wildly exaggerated. What items did they find? Who was he living with? How much money did he get? If all he got was the allowance necessary to purchase "a laptop computer, a cell phone and some books" that sounds almost comical for a world-class terror group.

Unlike other terror suspects who have found themselves in Abu Ali's position, the defendant in this case already has offered a very detailed side of his story. In a pre-indictment lawsuit brought last year to challenge his detention, Abu Ali and his folks say he was tortured into confessing the crimes with which he is charged. They say that U.S. government officials initially left Ali high and dry in Saudi Arabia after his capture.

Now this sounds entirely plausible.

And here's one more point for now: if the Administration is really concerned about President's security (which it should be but, in my opinion, is not to a sufficient degree) then maybe more should be done to aggressively investigate the breach of security associated with the "Jeff Gannon" affair?