U.S. Terror Convictions Overstated

An analysis of the Justice Department's list of terrorism prosecutions by The Washington Post shows that 39 people — not 200 — have been convicted of crimes related to terrorism or national security. Most of the others were convicted of relatively minor crimes such as making false statements and violating immigration law — and had nothing to do with terrorism, the analysis shows. Overall, the median sentence was 11 months. Justice Department officials say they have not sought to exaggerate the importance or suspected associations of those prosecuted in connection with terrorism probes, and they argue that the list provides only a partial view of their efforts. Still, except for a small number of well-known cases — such as truck driver Iyman Faris, who sought to take down the Brooklyn Bridge — few appear to have been involved in active plots against the United States. In fact, among all the people charged as a result of terrorism investigations in the three years after the Sept. 11 attacks, the Post found no demonstrated connection to terrorism or terrorist groups for 180 of them. http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/PrintStory.pl?document_id=2002331444&zsection_id=2002107549&slug=terror12&date=20050612 [Proofreader's note: this article was edited for spelling and typos on June 13, 2005]

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