Law versus terror

Mounir al-Motassadek, a member of Al Qaeda's Hamburg Cell, has been convicted in Germany of providing logistical support to the 9/11 plotters and sentenced to 15 years in prison. And they did this not by using torture, secret "evidence", or lower judicial standards, but in an ordinary court, under ordinary rules, and normal standards of evidence. It may have taken five years, an appeal and a retrial, but in the battle of law against terror, law has clearly won the day - and no-one can say that he did not get a full hearing or a fair trial.

That's the difference between the rest of the world and the US on terrorism. We prefer proper courts and justice; they prefer torture and a lynchmob mentality. And by taking that path, they have handed the terrorists a resounding victory.