Your Terrorism Dollars at Work

A friend of mine pointed me towards an episode of the public radio program This American Life from last week that detailed the trial of Hemant Lakhani. Lakhani, a 70-year old British citizen of Indian descent. He made a career of selling things and making deals for people. His last "deal" was selling an inoperative Stinger-style missle to a Government informant after purchasing the faux missile from another Government informant. In short, he was convicted for being the only non-Government member of a conspiracy to aid terrorists.

The program, which you can listen to here, details the story, with insight from Lakhani, his attorney, and the United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey who prosecuted (and who was nominated for the post by Dubya on September 10, 2001). At trial, Lakhami used an entrapment defense, aruging that he wasn't capable of completing the sale without Government assistance (22 months passed between the "deal" and the actual delivery of the Govt-supplied prop). One juror bought it, but was muscled by the 11 other jurors into changing her mind. 12 Angry Men it was not.

The point of the story, I think, is that this is the type of case that has been the bread and butter of the PATRIOT ACT. Indeed, it was cited by DoJ as one of the primary successes stemming from the Act. As such, it shows the poor use of our limited anti-terrorism resources in this country. Having said that, it's hard to be too sympathetic to Lakhami. He appears to be a long-term braggard who engaged in relentless puffery about who he knew and the kind of deals he had done. It also seems fairly clear that, even if he couldn't actually deliver a missile, he sure as hell intended to.