Wheres the Conspiracy?
When the indictment was made available to the public, it raised an even larger question about the entire prosecution. Nowhere in the indictment is Abu Ali tied to any terrorist event or action. So what is his crime? Plainly, there was not enough support for a charge of conspiracy to assassinate President Bush. Conspiracy requires an agreement, and an overt act in furtherance of the agreement. Nothing in the indictment suggests that Abu Ali either agreed to attempt to assassinate Bush, or took any action as a step to doing so. So, instead, the indictment simply charges Ali with having “associated” with alleged terrorists. Specifically, it claims that he talked about wanting to kill Bush with these persons, and that he received money from one or more of them – for what purpose, it is unclear. The very reason that the law of conspiracy requires an agreement and an overt act is to prevent prosecutions like this one – based on alleged, vague discussions that supposedly took place, but were
