Jeff Jacoby, in a column he published yesterday in The Boston Globe entitled "We Owe Ashcroft Thanks":

After the Sept. 11 attacks, it fell to Ashcroft to lead the administration's legal fight against terrorism. He made aggressive use of the powers given to him by law -- including the enhanced authority provided by the new Patriot Act -- to root out terror cells, arrest suspected Al Qaeda conspirators, and freeze the assets of groups suspected of terrorist ties. Since 9/11 the Justice Department has secured 194 terror-related convictions, including those of Richard Reid, John Walker Lindh, and radical Islamist cadres in Seattle, northern Virginia, and Lackawanna, N.Y.

Am I reading that right? Is he saying that Ashcroft deserves special praise for getting convictions against Richard Reid and John Walker Lindh?

Id there any prosecutor in America who couldn't have gotten these guys convicted?