Remember the case of Jose Padilla? He was the American suspected of plotting to launch a dirty bomb inside the United States. Today a federal judge said the United States government cannot hold Padilla as an enemy combatant without charges.

“The court finds that the president has no power, neither express nor implied, neither constitutional nor statutory, to hold petitioner as an enemy combatant,” Floyd wrote in a 23-page opinion that was a stern rebuke to the government. Floyd, appointed by Bush in 2003, gave the administration 45 days to take action.

“We think that this is a wonderful decision,” said Padilla’s attorney, Andy Patel, as Padilla waited on another line. “It is one of those moments that all Americans should be proud of.”

I, Mr. Patel, am not proud of this decision. Actually it makes me sick that yet another judge has decided to disregard public safety. Padilla is held as an enemy combatant for good reason; intelligence and investigation showed he was plotting a dirty bomb attack. As with all intelligence cases, the methods and actual intelligence gained can and usually is confidential. What this judge has done is ordered the United States government to open up and show its deck of cards.

I saw this earlier over at Speed of Thought, but I can’t make that much of Bin Laden urging Abu Musab al-Zarqawi to focus his attention to within our borders.

WASHINGTON - New intelligence indicates that Osama bin Laden is enlisting Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, his top operative in Iraq, to plan potential attacks on the United States, federal officials said Monday.

[snip]

The Homeland Security Department issued a classified bulletin to officials over the weekend about the intelligence, which spokesman Brian Roehrkasse described as “credible but not specific.” The intelligence was obtained over the past several weeks, the officials said.

First off, the “new intelligence” is not that Bin Laden and Zarqawi are communicating with each other as we’ve known that for some time, but it’s that Bin Laden is urging Zarqawi to move attacks from Iraq to the United States. I’m sure I’m not the only one who sees this as an extremely positive sign that Iraq is fast-becoming more secure and less of a terrorist haven.

In order for any terrorist group to pull off an attack within the United States, they have to have terrorists and materials inside of the States. I have no doubt there are terrorists within our borders, however I imagine (read: hope) the terrorists that are already inside the States have the full measures of the Patriot Act thrust upon them. Yes, our borders are pourus as just about anyone who wants in can get in with nothing more than galoshes, but has Zarqawi already sent his operatives to the United States?

The answer to that question is most likely yes, but that does not mean they aren’t sitting in jail cells or were deported as soon as they were found. However, the number of terrorists that Zarqawi would send to the United States would be very minimal and probably would not result in anything substantive.

I come to this conclusion by watching the events as they unfold in Iraq. Early on in the war, terrorist attacks claimed by Zarqawi’s group happened on a daily basis, often multiple times per day. They no longer do and the attacks they do claim often are one or two-man operations at best. Zarqawi simply does not have the manpower to spread his lines even more thin.

Sure, it only takes one terrorist within the United States to cause a terrorist attack, however try to put yourself in Zarqawi’s shoes for a minute. You’ve fought for around two years to force the United States out of Iraq. This doesn’t work so you try to start a civil war. Again, it doesn’t work so you try to threaten Iraqis not to participate in the elections. Yet again, this doesn’t work. A good portion of your top aides and top advisors have been captured and singing like canaries. Zarqawi cannot have much self-esteem left to open up a new front in his war.

This intelligence is however a bit disturbing, but it’s no more disturbing than when the Islamic Army of Iraq said they would attack the United States on our own soil. Threats and communications are a dime a dozen, but who says they can carry it out?

Watcher of Weasels linked with Whither Al-Qaeda?
Interested-Participant linked with UBL Tells Zarqawi to Hit U.S.
Speed of Thought... linked with Bin Laden urges Zarqawi to hit the U.S.

The depravity of terrorists holding out in Iraq never ceases to amaze me. While the sheer act of taking an innocent person hostage to demand ransom, behead them or shoot them is appling enough, they may have possibly reached a new low by taking a child hostage (via The Jawa Report).

Thankfully this child was rescued and returned to his father, but I believe there is a much bigger picture than what we see in this story alone. On election day, terrorists used a child with Down’s Syndrome to launch a suicide attack against Iraqis wishing to let their voices be heard. Through the interrogation of a living suicide bomber, we learn that this man was not told his mission was to kill himself but that a car full of terrorists followed him and detonated his car. No, I don’t feel sorry for this man, however it could not be more clear that the terrorists in Iraq are more desperate than ever before.

Unfortunately there will be more attacks and casualties among Iraqis, however the terrorists in Iraq are operating like they are prey to a boa constricter. Each day the U.S. and Iraqi forces are closing in on their leaders, their finances, their operations and their minions. The almost weekly arrests of high-level terrorists within the past three to four months has taken a toll and will continue to do so. These high-level terrorists are talking, which is leading to more arrests. Simply put, the terrorist groups in Iraq are having to move their area of operations further into the recesses of Iraq.

There is of course another aspect of the insurgency in Iraq; those funded by Saddam Hussein loyalists. Many are believed to be held in Syria despite Syria claiming otherwise. Just yesterday Syria “arrested” Saddam Hussein’s half-brother and 29 other financiers and supporters of the insurgency inside Iraq. Conflicting reports upon the actual detainment of Ibrahim al-Hassan have surfaced. There are reports indicating a group of Kurds snuck into Syria to nab al-Hassan or was apprehended by Syrian Kurds and handed over to Iraqi Kurds.

Regardless of what the exact details are of the capture of al-Hassan, no one doubts he was in Syria directing the insurgency in Iraq. al-Hassan is not alone though as there are many more both directing and financing the Iraqi insurgency from Syrian soil. With the continued pressure on Syria, expect more Saddam loyalists to suddenly spring out of the woodwork and end up in Iraqi prisons.

The noose of the Coallition forces and U.S. diplomacy is starting to squeeze the terrorists and insurgents out from the rocks they dwell under. Watching the eventsover the past two months as they transpire is a truly eye-opening experience. Each time a Big Fish is caught, the Iraqis grow more and more bold in determining their own fate. It is with appalling acts such as taking a child hostage among others in which emboldens Iraqis to resist such extremism.

Just days after an Islamic Jihad suicide bomber detonated himself in a packed Israeli crowd at a night club, a car was discovered in Israel packed with explosives.

A Nahal Brigade company commander spotted the red Volkswagon with wires protruding from it and alerted sappers to the site.

Security officials said that the same cell who launched Friday’s attack in Tel Aviv were planning to infiltrate the car into Israel.

Israel continues to blame Syria for housing and cooperating with Islamic Jihad. Israel plans on proving to the world Syria’s involvment in the night club attack.

Following the developments in Lebanon has truly been a miraculous scene. While thousands of protestors took to the streets demanding Syria withdraw its estimated 15,000 soldiers from Lebanon, international pressure upon Syria remains. What no one expected though, at least this soon, was for the Syrian backed Lebanese government to step down.

Prime Minister Omar Karami announced his government’s resignation Monday, prompting a cheer from more than 25,000 flag-waving opposition demonstrators protesting against the government and its Syrian backers near parliament.

“I am keen that the government will not be a hurdle in front of those who want the good for this country. I declare the resignation of the government that I had the honor to head. May God preserve Lebanon,” Karami said.

In an act that some pundits are already comparing to the Berlin Wall being destroyed, this clearly is a remarkable turn of events for not only the Lebanese people, but for the entire world. The Lebanese people went to the streets to demand their government enable them to live free and the government stepped down in order for the process to begin. This is history in the making.

Let’s recap what has happened in the Middle East over the last two months. First the Palestinians held their own democratic elections. Next the Iraqis streamed to the polls to elect a representative body responsible for writing the country’s constitution. Saudi Arabia held elections for lower level government positions. Within the past two days alone, Egyptian President Mubarak has declared his intentions to open up Egypt for presidential candidates and the Lebanese people forced a pro-Syrian government out of office. Freedom is on the march.

Will this be the domino that pushes more democratic reform in the Middle East? In reality, the domino was the Iraqi election. Since that day millions in countries in the Middle East have witnessed what promise democracy can bring and the democratic whispers have started turning into louder voices. They are all voices that need to be heard and voices that have long been silenced. Provided the international community can provide direction and support, the dominos will continue to fall.

A few pundits have already weighed in on whether or not this is vindication of President Bush’s foreign policy. It is to a degree, but Bush’s foreign policy in his first terms was not one of spreading democracy. Bush’s plan for the past three years was to install democracy into Iraq. This is done. It was believed that once Iraq welcomed democracy other countries in the Middle East would start their own political transformations to democracy. We are seeing that now.

Richard Reid’s accomplice, Saajid Badat, plead guilty today for plotting to blow up a commercial airliner with a shoe bomb.

Former grammar school pupil Saajid Badat, 25, had a device identical to the one used by fellow Briton Richard Reid.

Today it can be revealed that Badat and Reid met and trained at the same al Qaeda training camp in Afghanistan. The original plot involved both men detonating bombs simultaneously on flights from Europe to the US in December 2001.

Reid is sitting in a cozy prison cell in the United States while Badat will spend his years in an English prison. Reid was apprehended after his flight arrived into the United States. Passengers stopped Reid from carrying through on his shoe bombing after they smelled matches and gained control of Reid.

During last week’s meeting between President Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin, the topic of Russia’s Democracy came up. The two were to talk about how Russia has jailed journalists and started to control the media. What President Bush did not expect was Putin to ask the same.

George Bush knew Vladimir Putin would be defensive when Bush brought up the pace of democratic reform in Russia in their private meeting at the end of Bush’s four-day, three-city tour of Europe. But when Bush talked about the Kremlin’s crackdown on the media and explained that democracies require a free press, the Russian leader gave a rebuttal that left the President nonplussed. If the press was so free in the U.S., Putin asked, then why had those reporters at CBS lost their jobs? Bush was openmouthed. “Putin thought we’d fired Dan Rather,” says a senior Administration official. “It was like something out of 1984.”

The Russians did not let the matter drop. Later, during the leaders’ joint press conference, one of the questioners Putin called on asked Bush about the very same firings, a coincidence the White House assumed had been orchestrated. The odd episode reinforced the Administration’s view that Putin’s impressions of America are often based on urban myths fed to him by ill-informed aides. (At a past summit, according to Administration aides, Putin asked Bush whether it was true that chicken producers split their production into plants that serve the U.S. and lower-quality ones that process substandard chicken for Russia.) U.S. aides say that to help fight against this kind of misinformation, they are struggling to build relationships that go beyond Putin. “We need to go deeper into the well into other levels of government,” explains an aide.

Heh. This kind of brings me back to the Cold War when there were several misconceptions about the United States in the Soviet Union.

A suicide car bomber struck in the Iraqi city of Hillah killing 110 and injuring over 130 police and Iraqi National Guard recruits.

Torn limbs and other body parts littered the street outside the clinic in Hillah, a predominantly Shiite area about 60 miles south of Baghdad.

Monday’s blast outside the clinic was so powerful it nearly vaporized the suicide bomber’s car, leaving only its engine partially intact. The injured were piled into pickup trucks and ambulances and taken to nearby hospitals.

Outside the concrete and brick building, people gingerly walked around small lakes of blood that pooled on the street. Scorch marks infused with blood covered the clinic’s walls and dozens of people helped pile body parts, including arms, feet and limbs, into blankets. Piles of shoes and tattered clothes were thrown into a corner.

If there can be a positive side to this story, it’s that Iraqi police and Iraqi National Guard are continuously the target of terrorists and yet Iraqis are still signing up to join either security position.

Speed of Thought... linked with Round the Reader

With 12 of the 52 most wanted former Baathist Party officials still eluding U.S. and Iraqi custody, they can now cross off Saddam Hussein’s half-brother, Ibrahim al-Hassan. al-Hassan, who is accused of funding the insurgency in Iraq, was apprehended in Syria.

Al-Hassan, a former Saddam adviser, was captured in Hasakah in northeastern Syria near the Iraqi border, two senior Iraqi officials told The Associated Press by telephone on condition of anonymity. Hasakah is about 30 miles from Iraq.

They added that al-Hassan was captured and handed over to Iraqi authorities along with 29 other members of Saddam’s collapsed Baath Party, whose Syrian branch has been in power in Damascus since 1963.

The Iraqi officials did not specify when al-Hassan was captured, only saying he was detained following the Feb. 14 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in Beirut, Lebanon, in a blast that killed 16 others.

I really should take this at face value, however I cannot. The United States and Iraq have long since told Syria to turn over Saddam’s henchmen who are housed between their borders. Each time Syria denied there were any Saddam loyalists funding the Iraqi insurgency from Syria. Despite proof of communications intercepts, satellite imagery and taped confessions Syria maintained this claim.

Now, as if all of the sudden, Syria finds al-Hassan and turns him over to Iraqi authorities. With the increased international pressure upon Syria following the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, Syria just happens to find al-Hassan and hand him over. This doesn’t pass the smell test.

The Politicker linked with Freedom Is On The March
The Political Teen linked with Got 'Em

In a sign that Palestinians are eager for peace with Israel, today Palestinians expressed anger at the suicide bombing outside an Israeli nightclub.

Official condemnations and denials were followed by public anger toward the perpetrators as Israeli blamed Syria and the Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad, which claimed responsibility for the attack. The Palestinians pointed fingers at the Lebanese guerrilla group Hezbollah. Syria denied the allegations.

Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas convened his top security chiefs directly after the bombing and issued a strong statement pledging to track down and punish the culprits. The three main Palestinian militant groups — including Islamic Jihad — initially denied involvement. A branch of the Al Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades in the West Bank city of Nablus, even condemned the attack.

“We will not allow anyone to sabotage our national goals, aspirations and ambitions,” Abbas said Saturday in the West Bank town of Ramallah. “All Palestinian factions, including the prisoners, were outraged by this operation. I emphasize that there is another party that wants to sabotage the peace process.”

You simply have to be optimistic that there might eventually be a lasting peace, or relatively speaking, between Palestine and Israel after the reaction from Palestinians.