American forces captured a wanted terrorist in a raid yesterday in Tripoli, Libya. The man in custody is Nazih Abdul-Hamed al-Ruqai who is wanted for his role in the bombings of the American embassies in east Africa in 1998. Many of the articles about the raid refer to him as Abu Anas or Abu Anas al-Libi.
First of all, congratulations to the men who took this piece of human garbage into custody. This was a dangerous mission which easily could have gone wrong. We all owe them our thanks for undertaking this mission as well as for carrying it out so successfully.
Second, I hope that the government will now focus on getting intelligence from its captive rather than on treating him like a normal criminal defendant. This is not a low level terrorist; al-Ruqai must have knowledge of all sorts of terrorist activities. Because president Obama decided it was easier to kill terrorists with drone strikes rather than to capture them and put them in Guantanamo (and to get intelligence from them), this is the highest value target America has had in a long time. The news so far makes clear that al-Ruqai is going to be tried in federal court in Manhattan, a stupid, dangerous and extremely costly move. The extra security costs for the trial could exceed one hundred million dollars and the unnecessary risk to New Yorkers is nothing short of foolish. Let's hope Obama reconsiders.
Third, I want to add a note about the name being used for the captive. The title Abu Anas al-Libi basically is a name of high respect given to this man by the terrorists. It means something akin to Father Friendliness the Libyan. It is not a name that should be used by the American media. There is no reason to give this terrorist any respect. If they must use this name, I suggest that they spell Anas with the accepted variant spelling which is Anass. That way, he could at least be Abu An Ass al-Libi.
First of all, congratulations to the men who took this piece of human garbage into custody. This was a dangerous mission which easily could have gone wrong. We all owe them our thanks for undertaking this mission as well as for carrying it out so successfully.
Second, I hope that the government will now focus on getting intelligence from its captive rather than on treating him like a normal criminal defendant. This is not a low level terrorist; al-Ruqai must have knowledge of all sorts of terrorist activities. Because president Obama decided it was easier to kill terrorists with drone strikes rather than to capture them and put them in Guantanamo (and to get intelligence from them), this is the highest value target America has had in a long time. The news so far makes clear that al-Ruqai is going to be tried in federal court in Manhattan, a stupid, dangerous and extremely costly move. The extra security costs for the trial could exceed one hundred million dollars and the unnecessary risk to New Yorkers is nothing short of foolish. Let's hope Obama reconsiders.
Third, I want to add a note about the name being used for the captive. The title Abu Anas al-Libi basically is a name of high respect given to this man by the terrorists. It means something akin to Father Friendliness the Libyan. It is not a name that should be used by the American media. There is no reason to give this terrorist any respect. If they must use this name, I suggest that they spell Anas with the accepted variant spelling which is Anass. That way, he could at least be Abu An Ass al-Libi.
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