This move is in effect a serious repudiation of the war we’re now fighting in Afghanistan. It signals that Obama does not believe the war in Afghanistan is worth winning at all. Even so, if Obama sends more troops to Afghanistan, wouldn’t that contradict his belief that the best way to combat terrorism is through our justice system?

In the other words, what we’ve been doing for the last eight years is all wrong, period. That is precisely the kind of message we don’t really want to send to terrorists all over the world. Yet, Obama is doing exactly that. It has all the making of a confusing message, and to be truthful, I am not looking forward to long term consequences of having this man, captured on the battlefield, allowed to have his day in court.

There are two reasons for this decision:
1) Obama and Holder get to preen and pose before their liberal supporters as sterling exemplars of “fairness”.
2) Obama & Holder get to pretend that they are doing something about terrorism by personally prosecuting terrorists - letting the military handle it in closed trials does nothing for them.

It’s not about security, or the law, or human rights - it’s about Obama and Holder - period. They’ve made the calculation that they, personally, will be better off this way. Considerations of national security, the law, human rights…etc. – that’s all just background noise to them.

in Manhattan or anywhere in America in all likelyhood, as do you think they are 12 people anywhere in the country that are neutral about 9/11.

of the Bush administration they have made us less safe. Holder and Obama aren’t concerned about consequences. Bush did it, so they must undo it. I fear your update may be prophetic.

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“No. You can’t” -Moe Lane
“He’s such a charming liar” Air America host Christiane Brown referring to Barack Obama

Since he isn’t a citizen then why would he be tried in our civilian courts? The same argument should apply to Sherriff Joe in Arizona and the illegals. How can the laws of the US be applied to non-citizens? Just as congress has no Constitutional basis to force us to buy healthcare these civil courts have no jurisdiction in trying enemy combatants. This should be tried in a military tribunal and nowhere near NYC. The Dems have shot themselves in the foot with this one.

Great stuff, Erick

“But one man’s technicality is another’s violation of due process; and the corollary of treating KSM like ordinary criminals is treating ordinary criminals like KSM.”

Remember that Holder is the one who has pushed to prosecute Bush-era anti-terrorism acts. Let’s say he goes through with this. Then let’s assume that bringing KSM back to NYC for criminal trial has some type of negative outcome - a terrorist attack, the releasing of classified documents, the revealing of anti-terrorism operatives, etc. What would stop a future (more conservative) administration from prosecuting Holder for these actions?

As much as I disagree with Holder (and Obama) for their proposal re: KSM, I do not think they should be criminally prosecuted for it. I assume they are acting in good faith on advice they are being given (albeit wrong-headed). But what’s good for the goose is good for the gander, and if Holder goes ahead with prosecution of Bush administration members, he had better be ready to be hauled into court himself by a future administration.

NY Governor Patterson knew about this 6 months ago.

http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2009/11/16/politics/politicalhotsheet/entry5676119.shtml?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+CBSNewsVideoISP+%28ISP%3A+CBSNews.com%29
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Paterson also said that the White House warned him six months ago this very situation would happen. He said while he disagrees with the decision, he will do everything in his power to make sure that the state’s Department of Homeland Security will keep New Yorkers as safe as possible.
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Mr Precedent planned this 6 months ago.

As Joe Wilson said accurately “You Lie”.

I totally agree that KSM should not be afforded the protections of the Due Process guaranteed by our constitution. But please, let’s stop giving him the honor of calling him a soldier. He wore no uniform. He swore allegiance to no country. He had no moral or ethical code of honor. He is NOT a soldier. As a former soldier myself, I hate hearing him called that. He is a scumbag terrorist caught on the battlefield. Because he wanted to play war without playing by the rules “soldiers” play by, he should be afforded no protection other than a hearing in a dark room in Gitmo and a firing squad or noose.

I don’t care about “fair” when it comes to KSM or any Muslim terrorist. If they raise arms against or commit violence against Americans they should be executed. These people are fanatics and can never be “rehabilitated”. They can only be eliminated like insects. IMO the Left are co-conspirators in Islam’s war against Western civilization and this show trial is just one more salvo in that war.

I don’t give a crap about political correctness and am not afraid to call ‘em as I see ‘em. How many more Hasan’s are there in our military and in our country just waiting for their opportunity?

An ever so brief reflection on the trial of Zacarias Moussaoui gives a glimpse into what we are about to see;

- Sympathetic judges always on the edge of granting a mistrial
- Broad intelligence disclosures
- Uncooperative defendants making a mockery of the system
- Sympathetic jurors that prevent the death penalty (one vote is all it takes)
- Defense counsel that will spend years trying to score political points
- Security situations that attract terrorism to city already traumatized by the events of 9-11
- Precedent setting decisions which will grant broad US Constitutional rights, the rights our Armed Services members and populace have died for, to non-citizens terrorists.

Had enough “hope and change” yet?

Our justice system was not created solely for its citizens to have faith in it. The justice system is a careful balance of justice and the rights of the accused. The old saying goes that it is better to let 100 guilty people go free than to punish one innocent person. That sounds fine when we are talking about small crimes like theft, but do we really want to take those kind of chances when dealing with terrorists who planned the deaths of thousands of our citizens and who are eager to kill even more if given the chance.

In a flawed world, our system of justice is probably about the best we can do. However we are foolishly naive if we think it works perfectly under every circumstance. The Constitution is not a suicide pact.

I agree with robbyshanar upthread. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed is not a soldier; he is an illegal combatant. This is not just semantics. The Geneva convention specifically and clearly distinguishes between the two. It does not just define these terms. It explicitly indicates the differences in treatment between them.

He is not a criminal in the technical sense of the word and he is not a soldier also in the technical sense of that word.

I’l bet he won’t want his trial public! See http://prosecuteobama.org/

There is a mountain of evidence, but “discovery” will reveal much more. All this talk of transparency is a ruse. Certification of live birth is a forgery. Obama and his people put on the web. Gibbs actually said, “We put it on the internet.” For all those that think this will ‘destabilize the country’, well, how much more destabilized can it get? Shall we just knuckle down to tyranny? Three more years of this we won’t even be a country - just a 3rd world muslim country with Christians in hiding and all our wealth stolen. Patriots unite!

I was under the impression that Democrats were in charge. If you mean Democrats, say Democrats. The Democrat’s ‘Fair’ Trail. With a couple of exceptions it’s either Democrat or Republican. You sound like some partisan hack professor on campus.

KSM is a saboteur and a war criminal.
GW Bush tried to prosecute KSM in a military tribunal, but was constantly thwarted by a barrage of Liberal lawyers.
The reason Holder claims he didn’t consult with Obama but merely told him of his decision, is “plausible deniability.” Protects Obama.

This show trial is really about two things:
1. Fishing expedition to dig up enough evidence to try GW Bush and Cheney in an international court as war criminals (to satisfy the MoveOn.org nuts);
2. Distract us from Obamacare’s lightning-fast passage through the Senate.

3. (possibly) to deliberately provide significant intelligence to the enemy. Obama fundamentally has a problem killing other Muslims.

So, be diligent. Call your Senator and tell them Obamacare is fundamentally flawed and perhaps unconstitutional; and you want them to shoot it down.

Continue to build up public awareness of the inherent flaws in Holder’s decision AND Obamacare.

After WWII, after all sides had deliberately targeted civilian populations for wholesale destruction, we all (except the Muslims) signed an international treaty saying we’d never do *that* again.

A war criminal deliberately blends in with the civilian population, to evade detection, attack like cowards but with some impunity, use civilians as human shields (like when Saddam Hussein unsuccessfully attempted to protect his Command and Control bunkers), and possibly to evoke the ire of civilians “unfairly” caught in the middle (like the Haditha incident and many Predator strikes in Afghanistan).

In contrast, while during the Revolutionary War, civilians and soldiers may not have worn uniforms, they always carried their weapons openly and engaged armies on a field of battle (from behind trees and logs, to be sure). If the British army caught an armed civilian attacking their soldiers, they were usually summarily executed as saboteurs.

A war criminal also is someone who deliberately targets civilians for attacks. Everyone one of those suicide bomber attacks are war crimes. They target mosques, markets and civilian gov’t buildings. They aren’t necessarily attacking the foreign invaders they seek to expel. Attacking civilians in the name of Jihad is inexplicable and unconscionable.

Obama is ignoring the fact that we are at war (the Islamicists against us for 30+ years. us against them for 8). Hence, every one of those combatants who deliberately through their own behavior fail to fall under the protection of the Geneva Convention should be tried as saboteurs or war criminals (depending on what they’ve done) in a military tribunal.

If they were really soldiers, then we would rightfully inter them in military POW camps until hostilities ended. We would have to treat them as POWs; no waterboarding and enhanced interrogation techniques for them. No need to try them in a military tribunal, just for being a member of an army.

The international community needs to modify the Geneva Convention to explicitly state that these terrorists are war criminals and therefore enjoy no protections; they should expect military justice and a swift execution if warranted.

Leave the civilian courts to try your average civilian murderer who is motivated not by ideology but by their own special brand of anti-social insanity.

Remember the phrase, “Never let a good crisis go to waste”? Well, how about a predictable crisis that will enable this Administration to declare marial law? Might be one way of shutting down the 2010 election reckoning.

That would be “Martial Law.”