Posted by
Defend America on Tuesday, November 17, 2009 6:45:30 PM
The KSM Trial Will Be an Intelligence Bonanza for al Qaeda
The government will have to choose between vigorous prosecution and revealing classified sources and methods.
'This
is a prosecutorial decision as well as a national security decision,"
President Barack Obama said last week about the attorney general's
announcement that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and other al Qaeda operatives
will be put on trial in New York City federal court.
No, it is not. It is a presidential decision—one about the hard,
ever-present trade-off between civil liberties and national security.
Trying KSM in civilian court will be an intelligence bonanza for al
Qaeda and the hostile nations that will view the U.S. intelligence
methods and sources that such a trial will reveal. The proceedings will
tie up judges for years on issues best left to the president and
Congress.
Whether a jury ultimately convicts KSM and his fellows, or sentences
them to death, is beside the point. The treatment of the 9/11 attacks
as a criminal matter rather than as an act of war will cripple American
efforts to fight terrorism. It is in effect a declaration that this
nation is no longer at war.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704431804574537370665832850.html
Trial and Terror
The Left gets its reckoning.
By Andrew C. McCarthy
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.
http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=MWMwN2UyNzYwN2M1Y2JkNTdiODk1OWMyYmVmYTA2YmU=