Good. Let them stand trial for the crimes they have been charged with. Bush would never do that, and could have years ago. He refused to. Starting to clean up what Bush did to our justice system starts with actually using our justice system for what it was meant to be used for.
Holder has set a news conference for 11 a.m. to announce the decisions.
Mohammed "will be subject to the most exacting demands of justice," President Obama said Friday in Japan.
"The American people insist on it, and my administration will insist on it," Obama told reporters at a joint news conference with Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama.
Mohammed is the confessed organizer of the September 11, 2001, attacks on New York and the Pentagon. But his confession could be called into question during trial. A 2005 Justice Department memo -- released by the Obama administration -- revealed he had been waterboarded 183 times in March 2003.
Obama has called the technique, which simulates drowning, torture.
Mohammed is one of five defendants in the 9/11 attacks being held at the U.S. military detention center in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The other four are Ramsi Binalshibh, Walid Muhammed bin Attash, Ali Aziz Abdul Ali and Mustafa Ahmed al-Hawsawi.
National Public Radio, citing "officials familiar with the situation," said all five defendants will be tried in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, a short distance from where the twin World Trade Center towers once stood.
[UPDATE 9:10 AM] In associated news, Maj. Nidal Hasan has been charged with 13 counts of premeditated murder. No doubt putting him on trial will raise the same kind of truly silly reactions from the right.
How much more will the deficit balloon to pay for Khalid Sheikh Mohammed’s attorney? Remember, the Supreme Court has been pretty clear that taxpayers have to fork over sizable change to give criminals adequate legal representation.Why not just rid the country of public defenders anyway? They cost money, you know. So does prosecuting people. So do courts themselves. Hell, why not just dump the judicial branch altogether? All it does is delay the obviously guilty from being executed by PATRIOTIC TRAINED BALD EAGLES. With adamantium talons.
[UPDATE 9:37 AM] And yes, for the record, this will be a death penalty case for Hasan.
[UPDATE 12:21 PM] "But why even have a trial", William The Bloody complains.
The Constitution is for losers, apparently.
[UPDATE 1:07 PM] CNN is reporting that Maj. Hasan's condition is that he is paralyzed from the waist down.
Fate has a sense of irony after all.
Apparently Cornyn is giving the GOP response which is: treating the participants of 9/11 like common criminals is unconscionable [let's just keep waterboarding them to make me feel better]. Obviously the last part is mine, but when did these people decide that the laws set forth by the Constitution (in which no exceptions from the Justice system are made for "really bad people" or even "the worst of the worst") were not good enough?
ReplyDeleteI live in NYC, bring the bastards over. Put them in my backyard so that they can finally be tried and the city can begin to get closure on the horrible events of 9/11. The only "weak" people at the table are those afraid that 300 million Americans cannot convict 5 accused terrorists.
But if we try them, thier Mooslim Homo Rays will get us! Think of the children!
ReplyDeleteYeah, I'm with BooMan on this.
ReplyDeleteSomehow, I'm betting NYC is not a bunch of people who will be terrified to see these guys on trial.