Senate Dems Allowed 9-11 Terrorist & GITMO Detainees To Be Tried In NYC

by Sam Adams MMIV:The AP reports this morning, “Self-proclaimed Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohamed and four other Guantanamo Bay detainees will be sent to New York to face trial in a civilian federal court, an Obama administration official said Friday.”

This is a terrible idea for a whole host of reasons. Last month, former Attorney General Michael Mukasey explained why in an essential op-ed for The Wall Street Journal. Mukasey wrote, “The Justice Department claims that our courts are well suited to the task. Based on my experience trying such cases, and what I saw as attorney general, they aren't.” As Mukasey pointed out, “the rules for conducting criminal trials in federal courts have been fashioned to prosecute conventional crimes by conventional criminals. Defendants are granted access to information relating to their case that might be useful in meeting the charges and shaping a defense, without regard to the wider impact such information might have. That can provide a cornucopia of valuable information to terrorists, both those in custody and those at large.”

Indeed, previous terrorism trials in civilian courts have inadvertently aided the enemy including Osama bin Laden & al Qaeda. During the trial of Omar Abdel Rahman, otherwise known as “The Blind Sheik,” during the 1990s his lawyer smuggled orders to terrorists, Mukasey notes “it was later learned that soon after the government's disclosure the list of unindicted co-conspirators had made its way to Bin Laden in Khartoum, Sudan.” Also, Rahman’s incarceration spurred plots to free him, like one from Zacarias Moussaoui. Moussaui’s own trial leaked sensitive information. The trial of Ramzi Yousef for his role in the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center tipped off terrorists at large that a communications link had been compromised. And the trials of those involved in the 1998 terrorist attacks on American embassies in East Africa revealed in public details of bin Laden’s cell phone use. According to the Newark Star-Ledger, “Shortly thereafter, bin Laden's organization stopped using cell phones to discuss sensitive operational details, U.S. intelligence sources said.”

The Moussaoui trial presented another major problem: he used to for propaganda and even mocked victims of the 9/11 attacks. Last week, writing in support of an amendment to block 9/11 conspirators from being brought to the U.S., nearly 150 family members of 9/11 victims explained, “there is the sickening prospect of men like Khalid Sheikh Mohammed being brought to the federal courthouse in Lower Manhattan, … just a few blocks away from the scene of carnage eight years ago, being given a Constitutionally mandated platform upon which he can mock his victims, exult in the suffering of their families, condemn the judge and his own lawyers, and rally his followers to continue jihad against the men and women of the U.S. military, fighting and dying in the sands of Iraq and the mountains of Afghanistan on behalf of us all.”

The Senate had the opportunity to heed the warnings of these family members, of intelligence officials, and of Mukasey last week. But instead 54 Senate Democrats voted to allow Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and his co-defendants to be brought to New York by the Obama administration.

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said at the time, “The American people have made themselves clear on this issue. They don’t want Guantanamo terrorists brought to the U.S., and they certainly don’t want the men who planned the 9/11 attacks on America to be tried in civilian courts — risking national security and civic disruption in the process. . . . [W]hat material benefit is derived by bringing avowed foreign combatants like KSM into a civilian court and giving them all the rights and privileges of a United States citizen; and why should we further delay justice for the families of the victims of 9/11?”

Thia afternoon, Sen. McConnell released the following additional statement: “The White House’s decision today to bring the 9/11 plotters within our borders and into our communities instead of trying them at the secure detention facility at Guantanamo is a step backwards for the security of our country and puts Americans unnecessarily at risk.

“This misguided decision is based on the false belief that the terrorists who killed 3,000 Americans in one day on U.S. soil are common criminals—not war criminals.  But there are needless risks from this decision: classified information can be inadvertently leaked, as it was in the first World Trade Center trial; our cities will face enormous security problems; and our communities will be potential targets for attack.”

Despite an overwhelming bipartisan Senate vote earlier this year to keep Guantanamo detainees out of the United States, today’s action by the administration was endorsed by 54 Senate Democrats last week by opposing the Lieberman-Graham amendment that sought to bar the 9/11 plotters from being brought to the U.S. for civilian trial.

There’s ample evidence that previous civilian trials of terrorists have inadvertently aided the enemy.  Previously,  several Democrats, including President Obama himself, have questioned the idea of bringing terrorists to the US for trial. Today, Senators Jim Webb (D-VA) and Joe Lieberman (I-CT) had harsh criticisms for the administration’s decision today. Webb: "It will be disruptive, costly, and potentially counterproductive to try them as criminals in our civilian courts." Lieberman: “It is inconceivable that we would bring these alleged terrorists back to New York for trial, to the scene of the carnage they created eight years ago, and give them a platform to mock the suffering of their victims and the victims’ families, and rally their followers to continue waging jihad against America.” [Sam Adams MMIV is a pen name for an un-named beltway source.]

---

Additional info: (CNSNews.com) – House Republican Leader John Boehner (Ohio) says the Obama administration is putting “liberal special interests before the safety and security of the American people” in deciding to bring the 9/11 mastermind to the United States for trial in federal civilian court.

---

Tags: 9-11, Democrat, Eric Holder, terrorists, US Justice Dept, US Senate To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!