Oops, We Did It Again

File this one under “With allies like this…”

Earlier this month, John laid out how the Bush administration may have botched attempts to prevent the first of the two recent London bombings. Now it seems that we had one of the suspects in the London bombings as late as 2002, and we let him go.

The Justice Department blocked efforts by its prosecutors in Seattle in 2002 to bring criminal charges against Haroon Aswat, according to federal law-enforcement officials who were involved in the case.

British authorities suspect Aswat of taking part in the July 7 London bombings, which killed 56 and prompted an intense worldwide manhunt for him.

But long before he surfaced as a suspect there, federal prosecutors in Seattle wanted to seek a grand-jury indictment for his involvement in a failed attempt to set up a terrorist-training camp in Bly, Ore., in late 1999. In early 2000, Aswat lived for a couple of months in central Seattle at the Dar-us-Salaam mosque.

A federal indictment of Aswat in 2002 would have resulted in an arrest warrant and his possible detention in Britain for extradition to the United States.

…But that plan was rejected by higher-level officials at Justice Department headquarters, who wanted most of the case to be handled by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in New York City, according to sources involved with the case.

It’s not just that. The feds had another opportunity to indict this guy in 2004, and just didn’t do it, for reasons even they can’t explain.

In May 2004, then-Attorney General John Ashcroft announced an 11-count indictment by a federal grand jury in New York against Abu Hamza, who allegedly sent Aswat to Oregon to scout out the proposed training camp. A department news release said “the indictment alleges that Abu Hamza was a terrorist facilitator with global reach — from aiding hostage takers in Yemen, to attempting to set up a jihad training camp in Oregon.”

At the time, however, federal prosecutors chose not to indict Aswat for reasons that are not clear. Asked why Aswat wasn’t indicted, a federal official in Seattle replied, “That’s a great question.”

There had been some confusion about whether Aswat was alive. But three years after the Ujaama indictment, the Justice Department has yet to follow through with the indictment of Aswat sought by its Seattle office.

Meanwhile, we’re increasing surveillance on whole cities, and randomly searching handbags and backpack.

What more could any would-be terrorist want?