But the prospects of re-asserting central government authority over the lawless areas where al-Qaeda is based look, in the opinion of some analysts, remote - even with beefed-up American support.

BBC: Yemen instability poses a 'global threat', says Clinton

But late last month U.S. District Judge Mary Scriven overturned his most important conviction that of delivering cocaine and in so doing took a giant step in re-asserting one of the fundamental (but often under-recognized) principles assuring the liberty of Americans: the notion that the criminal justice system can punish us only if it can be proven that we knowingly and hence intentionally committed a crime.

FORBES: "How a Floridian busted for cocaine possession may save future white collar defendants"