Okay, so they fired Sami al-Arian simply because he was "accused" of being a terrorist. Now, the truth comes out, the jury did not find him guilty of the charges of funneling money to any terrorists. So does he get his job back?
Media Spin: Just a note about how CNN, at least, spins this story. Nothing about the guy being innocent until proven guilty (no that only applies to those with ties to Bush/Cheny, ie, Scooter Libby, I guess). Nothing about whether he should get his job back or whether it was even fair to fire the guy before he was tried and found guilty.
No, the press spins it this way: "A blow to the US effort to fight terrorism." Implict in that statement is the idea that "well, you know, the guy is really guilty, the jury was just too stupid to figure it out." Why a "blow" to the terrorism effort?
Why not a victory for justice and the defeat of the scurrililous effort to find terrorists in academia or anywhere else--and to bring anyone tainted with that tag to trial, no matter the real evidence.The panel, delivering verdicts six months to the day after the trial started, found al-Arian not guilty of conspiracy to murder, providing material support to a terrorist group and obstruction of justice.
Should we say that he had a lot of things going against him: 1) he was A-Rab, 2) he was a PROFESSOR, and 3) he was Moslem?
The other men, Sameeh Hammoudeh, Hatem Fariz and Ghassan Ballut, were also cleared of most of the charges against them.
The jury was deadlocked on several other charges and U.S. District Judge James Moody declared a mistrial on those counts.
Tuesday, December 06, 2005
Fired for Being a Terrorist.... Found Innocent
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1 comment:
That's strange how the media twisted the story to portray it as a blow to the effort to stop terrorism. Who is Sami al-Arian?
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