Terror case relies on ‘coded talk’

[unhappycamper]

Terror case relies on ‘coded talk’
By John Christoffersen - The Associated Press
Posted : Monday Jan 21, 2008 18:12:26 EST

NEW HAVEN, Conn. — Federal prosecutors acknowledge they don't have direct proof that a former Navy sailor leaked details of ship movements. Instead, they hope his coded speech and obsession with security will persuade a jury to convict him of helping terrorists target U.S. citizens.

Attorneys for Hassan Abu-Jihaad say the government's case is weak, echoing civil liberties groups and attorneys who have made similar accusations in some high-profile terrorism cases that have fizzled recently.

In October, the government's biggest terror financing case since Sept. 11 ended in a mistrial. That case, which involved former leaders of a Muslim charity in Texas, followed two other terror financing trials in Chicago and Florida that also ended without convictions on the major counts.

"I think the government has taken a risk with borderline cases and tried to make them into something they're not," said Michael Greenberger, director of the Center for Health and Homeland Security at the University of Maryland.

Abu-Jihaad, 31, of Phoenix, is facing trial next month. He has pleaded not guilty to charges he provided material support to terrorists with intent to kill U.S. citizens and disclosed classified information relating to the national defense.


Rest of thought-police article at: http://www.navytimes.com/news/2008/01/ap_abujihaad_080121/

[lvx35]

1. poets beware.

This whole "coded speech" thing is bullshit. Real code is a block cipher, there's no mathematically secure code that you can easily speak without just rattling off strings of numbers. The coded speech they are talking about generally refers to words with ambiguous meanings, which are handy to be spun in ANY way...Its the verbal art of horroscopes fortune cookies and tarot readings...Its convenient to companies interested in spinning "intelligence product" to a buyer rather than discovering anything like actual truth. And you know, given the situation in Iraq where making a profit is more important than accomplishing any kind of mission, that the same shit is happening in homeland security and counter intel. Hell, they have probably gotten quite good at manufacturing threats themselves. His obsession with security? I wonder how many times you have to break into somebody's shit before they are obsessed with security, for instance.