WHICH WOULD MAKE HIS CRITICS THE GENERALS

3 Plead Guilty as Terror Investigation in Virginia Expands (NEIL A. LEWIS, 8/27/03, NY Times)

Three members of a suburban Virginia group that federal prosecutors say was training to wage Islamic war abroad, notably in India, have pleaded guilty to weapons charges, and administration officials said today that they planned to expand their investigation into the group. [...]

One of the three who pleaded guilty on Monday, Yong Ki Kwan, admitted to a federal judge that he had trained with firearms at the camp of Lashkar-e-Taiba in Pakistan in preparation for a possible mission abroad on behalf of an Islamic political cause.

Another defendant who pleaded guilty, Khwaja Mahmood Hasan, acknowledged visiting the camp. His lawyer, Thomas Abbenante of Washington, said in a statement that Mr. Hasan regretted his actions, which were out of character and the result of "youthful indiscretion and his being persuaded by the preaching of a misguided Islamic cleric," an apparent reference to Mr. Timini.

The third defendant who pleaded guilty on Monday, Donald T. Surratt, did not travel to Pakistan but admitted having transported weapons used in terrorist training.

The guilty pleas were especially satisfying to the Justice Department because a federal judge had criticized the indictments as weak and sought to release some of the defendants on bail. At the time of the June indictment, many experts in civil liberties denounced the investigation as harassment of Muslims who simply liked to play paintball together.

John Ashcroft is on a winning streak that must make Meadowlark Lemon envious. Posted by Orrin Judd at August 27, 2003 12:25 PM