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Majid Khan to Accept Plea Deal

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The WaPo confirms what a lot of people have been speculating: Majid Khan will accept a plea deal.

In recent days, Khan, a Pakistani citizen who was a legal U.S. resident, was moved out of the top-security Camp 7, which houses the high-value detainees, in anticipation of an arraignment next week at which he will enter a guilty plea, said the officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity in advance of the hearing.

Khan has agreed, if requested, to testify at military commission trials in the next four years, and he would then be eligible to be transferred to Pakistan at some point after that, the officials said. Khan has a wife and daughter in Pakistan.

The officials would not specify the amount of time Khan would serve if he fulfilled his obligations under the agreement.

What I haven’t seen anyone explain, however, is why the government has suddenly offered Khan a plea deal. It suggests they either can’t build a case against him themselves–a possibility given that they’re charging him for an assassination attempt that apparently involved no bomb–or that they’ve decided they don’t have enough untainted evidence against Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and the other 9/11 plotters without someone like Khan testifying. It further suggests they don’t want to rely on Khan’s own testimony given in custody, probably because that, too, is tainted.

Though they must not be close to trying the 9/11 plotters, given that Khan will have to stick around for four years to testify, if needed.

But I’ll make a prediction. I bet Khan will do less time–for his empty suicide vest and for couriering money for terrorist plots-than Amine el-Khalifi, the guy with a similarly empty suicide vest who thought he was going to strike the Capital last week. If that’s true, it won’t be clear whether to blame it on the torture or the inadequate military commissions.

Another Empty Suicide Vest

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The name of the latest FBI-produced terrorist is Amine el-Khalifi. He is 29 and from Morocco. He was arrested today outside of the Labor Department in DC.

As is usual with most of FBI’s terrorist arrests of late, the FBI provided the suspect with the weapons he would have used to attack the target–in this case, the Capitol. As is usual, this appears to be an instance where the FBI found someone talking about violence–usually online–and then cultivated that violent desire over time.

So it seems like this is a now-familiar story.

I am rather amused that this particular FBI-written story includes an inert suicide vest.

He was carrying with him a vest that he believed was packed with explosives but that actually contained harmless material, officials said.

The man thought he was being assisted by members of the al-Qaeda terrorist network, but they were really undercover FBI agents, officials said.

[snip]

“The arrest was the culmination of an undercover operation during which the suspect was closely monitored by law enforcement,” Carr said in a statement. “Explosives the suspect allegedly sought to use in connection with the plot had been rendered inoperable by law enforcement and posed no threat to the public. [my emphasis]

I find that interesting only as a matter of coincidence. After all, we just charged Majid Khan, in part of donning what appears to have been an inert suicide vest.

I don’t know why, but I find it curious we’re adopting the same tactics that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed allegedly used to test Khan.

Update: Given the other targets this dude considered, it sure seems like the FBI picked a scary target, just like they did for the Scary Iran Plot.

El Khalifi expressed interest in killing at least 30 people and considered targeting a building in Alexandria and a restaurant, synagogue and a place where military personnel gather in Washington before he settled on the Capitol after canvassing that area a couple of times, the counterterrorism official said.

Also note, they appear to be cracking down on a bunch of other Moroccans who are out of immigration status. I guess they couldn’t convince those guys to join a terror conspiracy, and instead of us hosting them in a federal prison for the rest of their lives, they’ll be deported.

Update: Alright, this doesn’t make sense:

The affidavit alleges that over the next month, El Khalifi traveled to the U.S. Capitol Building on multiple occasions to conduct surveillance, choosing the spot where he would be dropped off to enter the building for the martyrdom operation, the specific time for the attack and the method he would use to avoid attracting the attention of law enforcement. El Khalifi also asked Hussien to remotely detonate the bomb he would be wearing on the day of the attack if El Khalifi encountered problems with security officers, and to provide El Khalifi with a gun that he could use during the attack to shoot any officers who might attempt to stop him.

On February 17, 2012, El Khalifi allegedly traveled to a parking garage near the U.S. Capitol Building. El Khalifi took possession of a MAC-10 automatic weapon and put on a vest containing what he believed to be a functioning bomb. Unbeknownst to El Khalifi, both the weapon and the bomb had been rendered inoperable by law enforcement. El Khalifi walked alone from the vehicle toward the United States Capitol, where he intended to shoot people and detonate the bomb. El Khalifi was arrested and taken into custody before exiting the parking garage.

The FBI says his own plan was to be dropped off at the Capitol building.

But what happened instead is he did a Deep Throat in a parking garage to get his empty suicide vest.

So whose plan was he implementing, again? Also, they decided to operationalize him in December, after first being tipped off to him in January. Actually pretty quick work for them.

Update: Here’s the complaint. Note it doesn’t say whether or not these conversations were taped. Also, this dude believed he’d get in the Capitol w/a gun and suicide vest loaded down with nails.