"Terrorism Going Unpunished" was the headline on Sean Hannity's Web page back in November when Guantanamo detainee Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani was convicted of one count of conspiracy in the 1998 terrorist bombing of two U.S. embassies in Africa and acquitted of 284 counts. Eric Holder needs to resign, Hannity announced. He said failure wasnt an option but it certainly was here! Newt Gingrich, Tim Pawlenty and others also called for Holder to resign following the verdict.By the way, Ghailani was sentenced today to life in prison without parole.As I noted in November, it was a mistake for major news organizations to highlight the acquittals instead of the conviction on one count, which in and of itself was serious enough to send the defendant to prison for life. "Terrorism Going Unpunished" just wasn't going to happen, and it didn't. Given the deadly consequences of the conspiracy Ghailani took part in, the life sentence was to be expected.

Paul Moses is the author, most recently, of The Italian Squad: The True Story of the Immigrant Cops Who Fought the Rise of the Mafia (NYU Press, 2023). He is a contributing writer. Twitter: @PaulBMoses.

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