Terrorist Sentencing

In a press release today, the Department of Justice said two men, Sohiel Omar Kabir, 37, a naturalized U.S. citizen who was born in Afghanistan and  Ralph Deleon, 26, of Ontario, a lawful permanent resident and citizen of the Philippines were sentenced to 300 months  (25 years)  in federal prison for participating in plots to provide material support to terrorists and to kill American personnel in Afghanistan.  Two others pleaded guilty previously and these two went to court.  

Twenty-five years is a long time, even given the number of times parole is granted to people who commit crimes.  They will have to serve 12 or so before they can petition to get a parole hearning.  

This is one area where sentencing has caught up with the crime.  A young girl leaving home with the intent of joining ISIS got 4 years in prison for her intentions.  These guys were going to be killing Americans when they got to Afghanistan, so they deserved more time, but I'm not sure if 25 years is the right amount.  It is about what they would have gotten had they really killed someone.  If you are seeing any sympathy in that statement, forget it.  There is none.  They certainly would have, given the chance.  This way, they won't have the chance for several years.  By that time the 37-year old will be almost 49, assuming he will get parole.  If he serves the whole sentence, he will be 62.  There may be more than a few terrorists who are over 60, but they will slow down quite a bit by then.  

I have to give Justice its due in this area.  When someone lives here, becomes a citizen, and gets the benefits of our tolerance of divergent views, they owe us something in return.  They are allowed to have opinions about our Middle East policy.  They can send money to Islamic charaties that support a wide variety of people, some of whom are terrorists.  They can write articles about how oppressed the world's Muslims are.  They can stand on a street corner and tell anyone who passes by.  They can send out mailers in snail-mail or on e-mail that promotes their causes.  They can get bumper stickers made (although I must admit to never seeing one).  But, what they can't do is provide material support to a group of people trying to kill Americans.  For once, Justice is an apt name for what happens when you do.