The infamous non-flying imams filed their lawsuit against US Airways this week and now that we can see the entire suit, it turns out that this is about more than just threatening the airline.

But the most alarming aspect of the imams' suit is buried in paragraph 21 of their complaint. It describes "John Doe" defendants whose identity the imams' attorneys are still investigating. It reads: "Defendants 'John Does' were passengers ... who contacted U.S. Airways to report the alleged 'suspicious' behavior of Plaintiffs' performing their prayer at the airport terminal."

Paragraph 22 adds: "Plaintiffs will seek leave to amend this Complaint to allege true names, capacities, and circumstances supporting [these defendants'] liability ... at such time as Plaintiffs ascertain the same."

In plain English, the imams plan to sue the "John Does," too.

Who are these unnamed culprits? The complaint describes them as "an older couple who was sitting [near the imams] and purposely turn[ed] around to watch" as they prayed. "The gentleman ('John Doe') in the couple ... picked up his cellular phone and made a phone call while watching the Plaintiffs pray," then "moved to a corner" and "kept talking into his cellular phone."

In retribution for this action, the unnamed couple probably will be dragged into court soon and face the prospect of hiring a lawyer, enduring hostile questioning and paying huge legal bills. The same fate could await other as-yet-unnamed passengers on the US Airways flight who came forward as witnesses.

The government has sensibly been encouraging normal citizens in the wake of the 9/11 attacks to report suspicious activity to the authorities. Now, these imams and their lawyers want to chill that behavior with potentially ruinous lawsuits if it turns out the suspicious activity was harmless.

This suit should be thrown out of court. If it isn't, then representatives in Congress need to extend legal protections to ordinary citizens who report suspicious activities -- especially on airplanes.

This is outrageous and a cynic might see it as an effort to pave the way for future terrorist attacks.