Late last month a New York court found Sulaiman Abu Ghaith guilty of multiple charges of conspiring to kill Americans and supporting acts of terrorism. The trial and the verdict are an important step in the fight against terrorism and a crucial victory for the rule of law.
Critics had declared that a trial like this could not and should not be held.
Abu Ghaith was the son-in-law of Osama bin Laden and al-Qaida's spokesman. He recorded many messages that praised the group's attacks and warned (or promised) more. During the trial, prosecutors showed a video of him, released Sept. 12, 2001, recorded in bin Laden's cave in Afghanistan, in which he sat next to the al-Qaida leader and his deputy, Ayman Zawahiri, and proclaimed their war against the United States. Subsequent videos rallied the faithful and recruited more fighters.