This is a category where you don’t really want to be determined to be best, but the decision by the Obama administration to prosecute Khalid Shaikh Mohammed in New York City and four others, really deserves the recognition. The New York Times reports:
WASHINGTON — Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the self-described mastermind of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and four other men accused in the plot will be prosecuted in federal court in New York City, the United States attorney general announced Friday.
But the administration will prosecute another set of high-profile detainees now being held at the military prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba — Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, who is accused of planning the 2000 bombing of the Navy destroyer Cole in Yemen, and four other detainees — before a military commission.
Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. said he would seek the death penalty against the five defendants if they are found guilty in federal court.
Some questions I have about this decision:
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Why New York, and don’t you care about the families of the victims wishes that it not be held in New York (or to have them brought on U.S. soil)? You could have this trial anywhere.
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Is the Obama Administration not concerned about classified material that it will likely have to give to the defense counsels of these terrorists? Likely anyone who defends these terrorists will have a political agenda, and I can see anything and everything being leaked. I figure President Obama likely doesn’t care. I know Eric Holder doesn’t.
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Wouldn’t this decision also place New York at higher risk of a terrorist attack?
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If a military commission is good enough for Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri and four others why isn’t it good enough for all of them?
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Also aren’t they concerned that Mohammed could have evidence found inadmissible by some activist judge due to the fact he was waterboarded?
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Are they not concerned about the circus that the defendants will turn this trial into? Likely not.
President Obama has opposition from within his own party as Senator James Webb (D-VA) weighs in on this matter in a statement today. NRO’s Andy McCarthy points out that this decision really reveals Eric Holder’s true agenda. Then the Obama administration will also release 26 of the Gitmo detainees to Yemen. Hey that sounds like a great idea, let’s release terrorists to a country where terrorists pretty much run free.
Brilliant! I wish this were a joke, but alas it’s not. I agree with Sarah Palin, this decision is atrocious.
