Khalid Sheikh Mohammed Will Destroy Obama
By Larry Johnson on November 16, 2009 at 9:30 PM in Current Affairs
Attorney General Eric Holder’s announcement last Friday that five prisoners currently held at Guantanmo will be put on trial in a civilian Federal court in New York City is absolute lunacy. I say this as one who rejects the Bush Administration nonsense that we “can’t fight terrorism with law enforcement methods.” We can and we have. Just ask Timothy McVeigh (oh wait, he was executed), the Blind Sheikh (aka Abdul Rahman), Hakim Murad, and Ramsi Yousef just to mention four.
But it is not or should not be an “either/or” choice. An effective counter terrorism strategy and policy requires a mix of tools and capabilities–intelligence operations, special military operations, diplomacy and sanctions. We should use all power in our possession to go after those who want to kill innocent civilians.
So what in the hell are Holder and Obama thinking? Khalid Sheikh Mohammed has been in US custody since his capture by the CIA back in March of 2003. The Bush Administration failed to put him on trial and subject him to a military tribunal. No excuse. Gross incompetence. But the incompetence of the Bushies is no excuse for new incompetence by the Obamatroids.
Andrew McCarthy was a prosecutor in the Southern District of New York and had direct experience in prosecuting Islamic radicals. In his most recent piece at the National Review he writes:
The decision to bring Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four other top al-Qaeda terrorists to New York City for a civilian trial is one of the most irresponsible ever made by a presidential administration. That it is motivated by politics could not be more obvious. That it spells unprecedented danger for our security will soon become obvious.
The five 9/11 plotters were originally charged in a military commission. Military commissions have been approved by Congress and the courts. Eleven months ago, the jihadists were prepared to end the military case by pleading guilty and proceeding to execution. Plus, the Obama administration is continuing the commission system for other enemy combatants accused of war crimes. If we are going to have military commissions for any war criminals, it is senseless not to have them for the worst war criminals. In sum, there is no good legal or policy rationale for transferring these barbarians to the civilian justice system. Doing so will prompt a hugely costly three-ring circus of a trial, provide a soapbox for al-Qaeda’s anti-American bile, and create a public-safety nightmare for New York City.
There is, however, a patent political rationale behind Obama’s decision.
The terrorists are clearly committed members of the al-Qaeda conspiracy to wage a terrorist war against the United States — so much so that KSM cannot help himself, bragging about his atrocities against our country, including the 9/11 massacre of nearly 3,000 Americans. Further, controversy surrounds the intelligence-collection measures used by the Bush administration after 9/11 — measures such as enhanced interrogation that, though they saved countless lives, have been stridently condemned by the antiwar Left. This antiwar Left, President Obama’s base, has demanded investigations and prosecutions against Bush officials.
The Obama Justice Department teems with experienced defense lawyers, many of whom (themselves personally or through their firms) spent the last eight years volunteering their services to America’s enemies in their lawsuits against the American people. As experienced defense lawyers well know, when there is no mystery about whether the defendants have committed the charged offenses, and when there is controversy attendant to the government’s investigative tactics, the standard defense strategy is to put the government on trial.
That is, Pres. Barack Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder, experienced litigators, fully realize that in civilian court, the Qaeda quintet can and will demand discovery of mountains of government intelligence. They will demand disclosures about investigative tactics; the methods and sources by which intelligence has been obtained; the witnesses from the intelligence community, the military, and law enforcement who interrogated witnesses, conducted searches, secretly intercepted enemy communications, and employed other investigative techniques. They will attempt to compel testimony from officials who formulated U.S. counterterrorism strategy, in addition to U.S. and foreign intelligence officers. As civilian “defendants,” these war criminals will put Bush-era counterterrorism tactics under the brightest public spotlight in American legal history.
This is exactly what President Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder know will happen. And because it is unnecessary to have this civilian trial at all, one must conclude that this is exactly what Obama and Holder want to see happen.
I think Andy is right. Unlike Andy I think the Bush Administration did commit war crimes and did besmirch our system of justice. But their venality ought to be dealt with separately. Putting this batch of terrorists on trial in a civilian court is fraught with great peril and will likely fail (I hope I’m wrong). The jury selection alone will be an almost impossible task. In fact, the defendants will have every right to argue for a change of venue. And can you imagine the kinds of people who are likely to wind up on the jury? The jury certainly won’t include anyone who lost a friend or relative in the 9-11 attacks. If you have a family or friend in the military who has fought in Iraq or Afghanistan, forget about it.
However, I fully expect a 9-11 truther to make his or her way onto the jury. That’ll be a hoot. Perhaps KSM will have a field day arguing that Israel actually carried out the attacks on World Trade Center.
As this circus unfolds and the defendants appear to triumph the stupidity of the Obama Administration will become more apparent. Instead of Barack Obama reigning triumphant over the justice system imposing a well-deserved sentence of death, the muslim defendants are likely to become sympathetic victims. This will, justifiably so, enrage many Americans and will expose Obama as a naive simpleton. Of course it looks like Iran, North Korea, Chavez and the Russians have already figured that out. A debacle with KSM will be the icing on the cake that solidifies Barack Obama as the Jimmy Carter of the 21st Century. Not the kind of hope change you want to believe in. Right?
by Ronald Scott
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