Naturally, posting is light this week, and we wish all of you the best of the holiday season and a joyous celebration of whichever holidays you choose to celebrate.
We’d be remiss not to note, however, the conviction in federal court of the Fort Dix plotters, who the Department of Justice alleged had prepared to attack Fort Dix, New Jersey in 2007. Evan Kohlmann presents some useful background here, including an expert report analyzing the plot which the prosecution submitted into evidence, and video depictions of the plotters engaged in paramilitary training.
Andy McCarthy says these convictions, and those in the Holy Land Foundation case, means the Bush Administration's Department of Justice will conclude its work on a high note.
As an interesting legal point, the prosecutors were unable to take the crimes past conspiracy to attack US soldiers (which requires an agreement to do so and an “overt act” in furtherance of the attack) and achieve convictions for attempted murder (which requires a “substantial step” towards perpetrating the attacks. It's possible this reflects a compromise verdict and also possible that the jury simply concluded the plotters didn't get far enough along to justify a conviction for attempt.
