BEING A CIVIL LIBERTARIAN MEANS NEVER HAVING TO SAY "I WAS WRONG"

Terror symps exposed (Daniel Pipes, 8/12/03, Jewish World Review)

[O]n August 6, this whole illusionary edifice came crashing down: Hawash pleaded guilty to conspiring to help the Taliban. He also agreed to cooperate fully with the prosecution and waived his right to appeal his conviction and sentence. In return, the government dismissed the other counts against Hawash.

How did his supporters take this stunning news? A media search turns up not a single mea culpa. Instead, they responded with denial and silence. "I don't know if I feel betrayed. I'm not dwelling on that now," said one of his staunchest sympathizers. "I want to hear directly from him before I believe it," said another. At the August 6 hearing, reports the Oregonian newspaper, "the throngs of friends and supporters who publicly protested on Hawash's behalf at previous hearings" were noticeably absent. Militant Islamic lobby groups lost their voice.

In short, while Hawash confessed to his crime, his supporters refused to admit their mistakes.

There are two lessons here. First, profiling can work. Alert neighbors reporting on militant Islamic-appearing activities brought Hawash to law enforcement's attention.

Second, sympathizers of terrorist suspects are entitled to express surprise and tell heartwarming stories about them. But shrill charges of racism, ignorant insistence on the suspects' innocence, and appalling comparisons to Nazi Germany impede the U.S. government's efforts to protect Americans.

Mr. Pipes takes a well-deserved victory lap around the rubble remaining from the "Mike's a victim" edifice, but the guy who really deserves to do an Icky Shuffle here is the much and unjustly maligned John Ashcroft. Posted by Orrin Judd at August 12, 2003 7:48 AM