Dibs

A Jordanian who used free-access computers in an Ohio public library to visit jihadist Web sites and send and receive emails about nuclear bombs and other weapons claims that he isn’t a terrorist — he’s just writing a book. According to Ha’aretz.com, Mohammad Radwan Obeid aroused the attention of a librarian in Troy, Ohio, who contacted the FBI. Subsequent investigations showed that among many such correspondences, Obeid emailed an undercover cop, claiming that “he wanted to start an operation that would be bigger than the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.” After Obeid’s personal computer was searched, his lawyers “challenged authorities’ interpretations of his e-mails and contended he was conducting research for a book on terrorism and world religions.” That’s such a cool defense. Charles Manson was researching a book on how to stab the pregnant. “Immigration officials said they believe Obeid entered the United States through marriage fraud,” reports Ha’aretz. “He married an American woman in Jordan and came to the United States in 2001, according to court papers. The marriage was annulled five months later.” After being convicted of lying to the FBI, he was sentenced to a year in prison and faces deportation in November.