: Motives Questioned in ‘Dirty Bomber’ Detainment

The cracks started to show just a day after Attorney General John Ashcroft announced the arrest of aspiring “dirty bomber” Jose Padilla (also known as Abdullah al Muhajir). After labelling him an “enemy combatant” and whisking him off to a military brig, more details emerged – that the attack was “plotted,” not “planned” (i.e., discussed only), the arrest was made May 8th (with no reason given for the month delay in announcing it), and that the US is more interested in questioning him than trying him, either in a military or civil court (he’s still an enemy combatant, of course). The backtracking was so odd that reports of Ashcroft being chastised by the White House for exaggerating the threat soon emerged. While acknowledging that Padilla may certainly be guilty of something, civil libertarians and Padilla’s attorney Donna Newman were alarmed at not only the weak defense, but the tacit admission that the arrest was a legally dubious prima facie action (unlike that afforded to fellow citizen John Walker). Meanwhile, the media is effectively distracted by Padilla’s early interest in Islam and dirty bomb scenarios (the San Francisco Chronicle showed a map of a new potential “ground zero” in that city). Look out… dirty bomb at 10, news at 11.

Zahed Amanullah is associate editor of altmuslim.com.  He is based in London, England.