On Sept. 15, 2002, Afridi, Ali and Shah traveled from Pakistan to Hong Kong "to meet with undercover law enforcement officers from the United States and to negotiate for the sale of ton quantities of heroin."
The next day, Sept. 16, 2002, "at a hotel in Hong Kong, People's Republic of China, defendants Syed Mustajab Shah, Muhammed Abid Afridi, and Ilyas Ali negotiated with undercover law enforcement officers from the United States for the sale of 5 metric tons of hashish and 600 kilograms of heroin."
That same day, "defendants Syed Mustajab Shah, Muhammed Abid Afridi, and Ilyas Ali agreed that the purchase price of the 5 metric tons of hashish and 600 kilograms of heroin could be offset against the cost of 4 'Stinger' anti-aircraft missiles, which the defendants stated they were interested in purchasing from the law enforcement officers."
Two days later, "defendants Syed Mustajab Shah, Muhammed Abid Afridi, and Ilyas Ali told undercover law enforcement officers from the United States they intended to sell the 'Stinger' anti-aircraft missiles discussed during the meeting on Sept. 16, 2002, to members of the Taliban, an organization the defendants knew to be the same as Al-Qaeda."
Shah, innocent unless proved guilty, will have his day in court. But Afridi and Ali have admitted guilt to conspiring to distribute heroin and hashish and, as their plea agreements put it, to conspiring to "provide material support and resources to a foreign terrorist organization, to wit, Al-Qaeda."
Thanks to courageous FBI agents -- who worked undercover here and abroad -- and thanks to aggressive prosecutors in John Ashcroft's Justice Department, and thanks to the Patriot Act, which U.S. law enforcement did not have at its disposal before September 2001, Afridi and Ali never made big news.
Nor did any special committee need to investigate how al Qaeda got the Stingers that shot down our 747s.