Rough Justice in the Age of Terrorism

The Lackawanna Six should be included as one of the first examples of "rough justice" since 9/11. These hapless young men, from Lackawanna, N.Y., described as homegrown terrorists, may not be so much terrorists, as bumbling 20-something’s looking for a stimulating environment to motivate them. Stupid, yes but terrorists, I very much doubt it, considering they all faked injuries to escape the jihad camp they joined when they found out how anti-American it was.

Yet Bush and Cheney were personally involved in the decision to arrest them. Dick Cheney supposedly asked,

"Can you guarantee me, 100%, that they will not plan anything in the future?"

Of course, the FBI couldn't answer that with 100% certainty so they were ordered to arrest them against the better judgment of the FBI.