Capt Ed Morrissey has a post up on the recent arrest of a father/son duo who probably managed an AQ sleeper cell in Lodi, CA. The original story is from the Sacromento Bee and MSNBC (see the Captain’s site for the links). How anyone living in this country can be so wacked out as to want to do harm to innocent people is one frame of mind I hope I never understand. But Ed Morrissey is correct in his conclusion:

I may not be a lawyer, but in my opinion this amounts to one crime: treason. A US citizen has not only given aid and comfort to our enemy during wartime, but has explicity allied himself with them and actively pursued attempts to carry out missions against us on their behalf.

It’s time we understood the difference between moderates and fanatics, and the difference between youthful indiscretions and outright treason. A free society can handle moderates and survive youthful indiscretions, but it cannot abide fanatics who commit treason.

I’ll take this a little farther. For all those naive liberal organisations who worry about GITMO, the Koran, our image in the dictator’s club of the UN and the liberal MSM we need to get serious. What gives these people hope is the left’s continued haranguing that the source of evil in this world is America. Rubbish. Does anyone not think these people are following the clarion call of radical fanatics like British MP George Galloway?

Galloway: I am speaking for tens of millions, and maybe more, around the world, who know the truth about Iraq. Who know that the real criminals are in Washington. Not in the United Nations. The real criminals are in the White House, not in the Elysee Palace. The real criminals are in the Congress, not in the anti-war movement. So I have no respect for this…

Bush, and Blair, and the prime minister of Japan, and Berlusconi, these people are criminals, and they are responsible for mass murder in the world, for the war, and for the occupation, through their support for Israel, and through their support for a globalized capitalist economic system, which is the biggest killer the world has ever known. It has killed far more people than Adolph Hitler. It has killed far more people than George Bush. The economic system which these people support, which leaves most of the people in the world hungry, and without clean water to drink. So we’re going to put them on trial, the leaders, when they come. They think they’re coming for a holiday in a beautiful country called Scotland; in fact, they’re coming to their trial.

In addition, those who worry about the Patriot Act need to ask themselves what would happen, if in their drive to insulate themselves from our law enforcement agencies, we end up missing a sleeper cell? These are not easy issues, and the MSM would rather not have any debate on this, but they are REAL issues with real consequences.

UPDATE:

The Jawa Report has an extensive rundown on this topic from across the blogoshpere – check it out.

UPDATE II:
Michelle Malkin has a copy of the federal criminal complaint (to download PDF)

Most amazing is the dates for the younger man’s training in Pakistan by Al Quaeda:

Hamid admitted that he attended a jihadist training camp in Pakistan for approximately 6 months in 2003- 2004. Hamid stated that Al-Qaeda supports the camp and provides instructors for the camp. Hamid later confirmed this camp was run by Al-Qaeda.

11. Hamid advised that he specifically requested to come to the United States to carry out his Jihadi mission. Potential targets for attack would include hospitals and
large food stores.

In other words, this American went to be trained well after 9-11 with clear intentions of trying to implement another one. How else do you define Treason?