Al Qaeda Terrorists to Stand Trial in New York

The Obama administration moved a step closer to giving the victims of the Al Qaeda Murders of September 11, 2001, the justice they have thus far been denied with a decision on Friday to try the surviving ringleaders in New York City. They will face the death penalty, and if found guilty and sentenced to such, this journal recommends having the condemned spend a night with members of the New York Fire Department. There wouldn't be enough left to bury. Naturally, the Republican Party big shots are complaining that this undermines American security. One must remember that the murders took place on their watch, and they bear responsibility for the failure to stop the attacks.

In all, five suspects will leave Guantanamo for Manhattan. Among them will be Khalid Sheikh Mohamed, the mastermind of the attacks. Five other Guantanamo inmates will face military commissions. This is all part of an effort to empty that prison by the president's deadline of January 22, 2010. Some 200 detainees remain in custody there.

The trials in New York will largely be a competition between the government providing evidence of the inmates' guilt and the prisoners' allegations of torture during their time in custody. To the extent that government interrogators extracted evidence through torture, the defense has a chance to undermine some of the government's case. That said, Khalid Sheikh Mohamed has boasted of his role in the attacks, so the torture defense may not hold any water.

Of course, the first defense motion will be to move the location of the trial, After all, how could the court assemble an untainted jury drawn up of New Yorkers? However, a wise judge will throw that motion out. There is no place in the United States where such a jury could be established. And that will be the basis of an appeal all the way to the Supreme Court. So be it. That is the American system and all are equal before it. As President Obama said, the accused will "be subject to the most exacting demands of justice, but it will be justice rather than revenge." Senator Patrick Leah (D-VT) chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee praised the move, "By trying them in our federal courts, we demonstrate to the world that the most powerful nation on earth also trusts its judicial system, a system respected around the world."

Sadly, there are leaders in the Republican Party who don't believe that. They'd rather leave Guantanamo open and try the inmates in military kangaroo courts to justify the Bush administration's loathsome creation of the prison in the first place. Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky was succinct in his opposition to the move calling it "misguided." Congressman Howard McKeon, ranking Republican on the House Armed Services Committee, said that the move "will once again delay brining justice to the victims and their families." That's nonsense as the Bush administration did nothing to try these men for years. Mr. McKeon also said that moving the men "introduces unnecessary risk to the citizens of New York, and undermines the legitimacy of the military commissions system." The military commissions system has no legitimacy, or certainly less than the federal courts.

As for "unnecessary risk" coming to New York, this journal is produced there, and one can vouch for the fact that every New Yorker is more than ready to run that risk if it means putting KSM's head on the end of a stick. When his home town of Santa Clarita, California, is asked to host terrorist trials, Mr. McKeon's opinion may matter. Until then, hey, pal, fuhgeddaboutit.

© Copyright 2009 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Fedora Linux.

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