Slashdot Mirror
Former Intel Engineer Pleads Guilty To Taliban Aid
theodp writes "Following up on an earlier Slashdot story, software engineer Maher "Mike" Hawash pleaded guilty Wednesday to conspiring to provide services to the Taliban, agreeing to testify against other suspects in exchange for the dropping of other terrorism charges. He will serve at least seven years in federal prison under the deal. In March, federal agents seized Hawash from a parking lot outside Intel Corp., where he worked, and held him as a material witness until charges were filed five weeks later."
The Taliban was a legit government, it had absolutely nothing to do with Al Qaeda just like Iraq had nothing to do with Al Qaeda, but terrorists were Wahabi, and the Taliban were Wahabi, and they both were around the same area, oh and the Bin Laden was friends with them.
I guess Bin Laden was friends with Saddam too, and Saudi Arabian, South Africa, etc.
If you use Linux, please help development of Autopac
How would you Yanks like it if an Iranian was caputured by his gov't, held in prison for five weeks, then admitting allegiance to the USA?
Come ON, this is /. -- I'd expect ignorant opinions from other Americans (including my mom's relatives, her being American), but we're supposed to be SMARTER here! Being a member of the losing side doesn't make him a terrorist, doesn't make him a criminal, it just makes him (at worst) a spook who's identity was exposed. Somebody explain to me WHY the States gives hugs and kisses to the Geneva Conventions when they feel like it, and piss on them when it suits their own agenda?
Condemnant quod non intellegunt.
I know i'm gonna get flamed for them, but states that support terrorism are terrorists. Bush said it best right after 9/11. There is no difference between a terrorist orginzation and a state that spports it. Thats was why we went after the Taliban. Hell we gave them 2 monthes to turn over bin Ladin before we went in. And no if you where a german agent in France and you were not a uniformed soldier, they could legally execute you on the spot as a spy. As far as the USSR goes, Soviet citizens must have loved that government. They kept it around so long.
Why are geeks for Dean? Whats he going to do for us?
I'm sorry, I don't remember seeing a report that they actualy made a formal request. I know they asked for him, but did they present any evidence to the extradition hearing? Maybe you can provide me with a link?
(Yes, I know I'm saying bye bye kara by saying this, but sometimes the truth is unpopular.)
Democracy isn't about no one telling you what to do. It's about everyone telling you what to do.
Right around the time you offer up anything to indicate he was arrested only based on his appearance.
Pretty lucky guess, if he's pleading guilty and that's all they had to go on when they picked him up.
-transiit
Oh, and I've noticed you've given up on your usual bifurcation sig (You know, shit like "Support transgaming or you're against games on linux".) Too many people call you on the informal fallacy, or just going for what you see as the popular sentiment?
That America didn't even go to war against the Taliban!!!!!! Isn't it amazing how if you tell the media something for long enough, an entire country can start to believe it. Anyone over there heard of david hicks...he was with the taliban....how long has he been held illegally now? Two years? The american government is f%#$ing evil...and there's no other word for it...two faced, hypocritical and evil.
Get your dick out of your ass. The Taliban were just bullshitting us. There was plenty of proof for extradition, and everyone knew it.
Could I please see this proof? After all, the Taliban has fallen. Surely, no US spies could be hurt by releasing whatever proof they had at the time.:P
Anyways, the Taliban should have been taken out much earlier for violating human rights. Unfortunately, US botched the War in Afghanistan completely and those violations are still just as common.:(
Is this a sigs-optional kind of place? 'Cause I am totally down with that if you know what I mean.
Woah, hang on there. The only country that recognized the Taliban as the government of Afghanistan was Pakistan. Nobody else in the world thought they were a "legit" government, and they didn't even represent Afghanistan in the United Nations.
With all due respect, UN is in the pocket of US. Who are you kidding? And for the connection, as many posts pointed out, US is more responsible for Al Qaeda then Taliban. Also remember, Bin Laden is from Saudi Arabia, his financing also comes from there.
ato
Was he collaborating before or after 9-11?
Was it illegal to talk or help the Taliban before 9-11?
Yes it was. Bush and his crew gave them sixty million smackers. And two months before the invasion, tried to negociate rights for a gas pipeline across Afghanistan.
So, before 9-11, Bush gave them US$60M, and tried for a pipeline for UNOCAL.
Why isn't he in jail?
Perhaps he is pleading guilty because he *really is* guilty and the government has enough evidence to get him convicted and executed for treason. The fact that he *chooses* to grow a taliban-style beard and *chooses* to look like a "jihadi" extremist (while irrelevent to actual criminal guilt) *is* very indicative of what his belief system is. A man projects the image that he chooses to project, it is a form of self-expression. He chooses to express extremism. Because he is a member of a ethnic minority does not make him guilty or innocent or persecuted. But... because he chose to subscribe to a belief system of jihad against the west, and because he then actually took steps to carry it out by giving aid to active combantants, he is guilty.
"It provided justification for an unjust military action."
That statement says loads about you, but we'll addresss that at end of post.
"The Taliban acted in the same way that France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Norway or any other reasonable country would have in the case of Osama Bin Laden."
Bullshit. All of the Western intelligence agencies knew what Bin Laden was up to. Those countries would have arrested him THEMSELVES. THEN they would have debated turning him over to us.
"...if the US was willing to provide proof that he had done something wrong."
More bullshit. The Taliban, an illegitimate government to everyone but Pakistan, was joined at the hip to Al Qaida, much like the IRA is joined at the hip to Sinn Fein. The Taliban was the ruling force at home. Al Qaida was the activist force abroad. Same people, same goals, different focus.
"We bombed them for no good reason."
Tell that to the families of the dead in New York.
"The international community was largely silent because no one wanted to risk the wrath of the US after ~3000 of our citizens were violently killed in a terrorist attack."
The international community was largely silent because we stepped up to do what should have been done a long time ago. I've got news for you; governement from London, to Moscow, to Tokyo were breathing a sigh of relief and thanking our ambassadors for going in and taking the Taliban out before Al Qiada came to THEIR country.
"The Taliban was a horrible regime, but they were not a threat in any way to the immediate security of the US."
Except for giving aid, shelter, a homebase, and resources to an organization that was actively killing our citizens?
"Their beliefs were not too much different than those of the Orthodox or Hasidic Jews that we have here"
*Thumbs through history books*
Hmmm. That's funny. I can't seem to find any references to Orthodox or Hasidic Jews engaging in the mass murder of Americans. Can't seem to find any demands for a worldwide orthodox jewish government, by the sword if neccessary. That makes them just a TAD different from Islamic fanatics that seem to love to take our lives and blow up our buildings (and ships, let's not forget the U.S.S. Cole)
I think you're just another knee-jerk anti-war guy. I think that makes you a jerk and an asshole, but hey, this is America. You can be those things. So say whatever you want. But if you're going to reference George Carlin ( "All those brown people..."), you should include his post 9-11 revisions; "survival first, these people are trying to kill us. I'm even willing to work with the federal government to prevent that"
You can debate whether we should be in Iraq. But to condemn our actions against the Taliban/Al Qiada in Afghanistan??? Please.
Life is hard, and the world is cruel
As has been noted in hundreds of other places, that $60 million was in the form of food aid distributed through UN NGOs to the starving people of wartorn Afghanistan.
We should just mod down anyone making this claim -- it just shows that the person making it is uninterested in the facts or having an honest discussion.
If it ain't broke, you need more software.