Douglas Earl Leiter

Operation Somalia Express: The Revenge of the Black Hawk Down Douglas Earl Leiter

How is a man sent to prison for ten years on a controlled substance violation when the government concedes the substance is not controlled by United States drug laws? In 2007, Ali Awad was convicted and sentenced to ten years in federal prison. There he met an inmate who was a former police officer and lawyer convicted on tax charges. Together the two embarked on a journey in criminal procedure, international law and, most importantly, politics. Soon it became clear Ali was not in prison for what he did but for who he was and where he came from. His public trial was a means to an end and that end was a narrative designed to paint him as a terrorist and paint for the American people a spectacle of revenge.