The KSM Show Trial

November 18, 2009 / 2:12 pm • By Dr. Melissa Clouthier

I keep thinking that the Obama Administration is smarter. It’s painful thinking that they’re this stupid:

Of all the infuriating aspects of the decision to transfer five 9/11 war criminals to civilian federal court, the one that grates most is the contention that the Obama administration is finally moving forward after “eight years of delay” — as Attorney General Eric Holder put it at his Friday press conference — during which the Bush administration managed to complete only three military-commission trials.

This is chutzpah writ large. The principal reason there were so few military trials is the tireless campaign conducted by leftist lawyers to derail military tribunals by challenging them in the courts. Many of those lawyers are now working for the Obama Justice Department. That includes Holder, whose firm, Covington & Burling, volunteered its services to at least 18 of America’s enemies in lawsuits they brought against the American people. (During 2007 alone, Covington contributed more than 3,000 hours of free, top-flight legal assistance to our enemy detainees.)

Read everything from Andy McCarthy about this. And listen to this podcast to get all the background from McCarthy.

There is no defense for moving the trial to federal, civilian court in NYC. Jim Geraghty pulls some testimony from Eric Holder’s testimony today:

Sen. Charles Grassley (R., Iowa): “I don’t think you can say that failure to convict is not an option, when we have juries in this country.”

Attorney General Eric Holder: I have thought about that possibility. Congress has passed legislation that would not allow the release of these individuals in this country. If there is not a successful conclusion to this trial, that would not mean that this person would be released into this country . . .

So, no matter what, KSM is going to be convicted and/or held? And how much money is going to be spent on the show trial?

Instapundit puts forth the theory that this is all a diversion to distract from the stealth care bill–Harry Reid is trying to bring the bill up for debate.

A distraction? An attempt to “regain moral stature”. A bone thrown to leftists?

Posted in Barack Obama • Islamofascism • Military
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  • fuster

    The reason that there have been so few trials is two-fold in that the ones that the Bush administration held before those Military Tribunals weren’t legal and also is attributable to the fact that the Bush administration never attempted to try more than a handful of the 500 prisoners.

    Blaming the paucity of trials on “leftist lawyers” is idiocy beyond your normal portion of same, Clouthier.

  • Tim

    According to the USAG, if KSM were somehow acquitted, he would be sent back to prison because he’s an enemy combatant.

    Then why have the civilian trial in the first place????

    PROBLEMS WITH CIVILIAN TRIAL
    1. Given no Miranda rights
    2. Confession by torture
    3. No access to a lawyer for years
    4. Will be able to “out” his accusers
    5. Access and challenge the intel methods
    6. Soapbox drama
    7. Countless appeals
    8. Obama opening his big mouth and said that KSM will be found guilty and hanged (poisoning the jury pool)
    9. Information leaks of intell.

    This mess could be avoided by sticking to the military tribunal which WOULD had happend already.

    We’ve had 200 years of trying spies, sabatuers and terrorists. USAG can not state any previous case history of a terrorist, caught on the battlefield, in time of conflict, of getting a civilian trial. Not even the Nazi spies/sabatuers of WWII got a civilian trial.

    Terrorists do not have Geneva Convention rights. American’s who become terrorists acts in the US do have constitutional rights, but outside terrorist nationals, caught outside in a warzone do not!!!

  • fuster

    Tim,
    1,2,3 won’t matter because no evidence obtained from him since his capture will be needed or introduced at trial.
    4 why would it be a problem for him to have the right to cross-examine the people testifying against him?
    5 access to our intelligence methods from 2001 shouldn’t be disclosing anything of great harm.
    6 soapbox opportunity will be limited , but should be of great benefit for us in allowing people to hear how utterly full of sh*t this guy is. I doubt that he’s going to win any new fans.
    7 He’s not going to get any more appeals than he would have at a military trial and if we were in a hurry we should have started the years ago. Why did we wait all these years if speed counted?
    8 I’m pretty sure that we’ll be able to find enough people in NY, aren’t you?
    9 What’s going to leak? It’s all old stuff and it will be screened by the judge.

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