September 11 suspect to be tried at Guantanamo Bay

[whopis01]

Source: Reuters

Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the self-professed mastermind of the September 11, 2001 attacks, will be tried by a military commission at Guantanamo Bay instead of in a U.S. civilian court, a U.S. official told Reuters.

President Barack Obama had tried, and failed, to overcome objections by Republicans and some of his fellow Democrats in Congress to transferring some detainees to U.S. prisons and trying Mohammed and others in federal courts.

The U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder would formally make the announcement on Mohammed's trial at Guantanamo at 2 p.m. (1900 GMT) on Monday.

Holder announced in late 2009 that Mohammed and four of his alleged co-conspirators would be tried in a federal court in the heart of Manhattan, sparking concerns about security and about giving them full U.S. legal rights.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/us_usa_guatanamo_mohammed

[Bragi]

1. Great chance to showcase worst of American justice

A civilian trial might well have showcased the best that American justice offers to accused persons.

Instead, by trying him in military court, the world will be able to see him tried in a court that offers almost no protection to the accused.

Why is it that America, when given a choice, is instinctively incapable of choosing to do that which might reflect its founding values?

[backtomn]

24. George Washington approved military tribunals

Maybe you need to do a bit more reflecting on our "founding values".

Our problem is our CIVILIAN justice system. This is where we need some serious work. We don't need a distraction from our real problems......death penalty, minorities in prison, etc.

[Bragi]

26. Disagree

I agree that the U.S criminal justice system has huge problems, but these relate to the actual laws being enforced, the harsh sentencing, and the barbaric state of US prisons.

I don't think inadequate protection of the accused is actually one of the major problems, and even if it is, it is nothing like the rights-free manner in which an accused is treated by military tribunal.

As for the George Washington example, that's irrelevant. His military tribunals were conducted during the revolution, before there was even a Bill of Rights.

[Hissyspit]

2. On the day Obama starts his reelection campaign...

Cynical.

[KoKo]

23. Bizzarely Cynical... . Holder was on CNN announcing it.

[Stuart G]

3. Didn't Obama talk about closing it down?????

Seem to remember something like that :sarcasm:

[Name removed]

6. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[yodermon]

7. What a wonderful introductory post.

[mysterysoup]

12. Well, what IS the difference?

Both are tools of Wall Street, big business and the banks. Both increased US aggression in Moslem countries. Both screwed up disasters in the Gulf of Mexico. Oh, right. President Obama is black and President Bush was white. Obama is also a good speaker and Bush was an embarrassingly bad speaker. Any other differences?

[KittyWampus]

29. if you don't know the difference, then you aren't paying attention.

[mysterysoup]

30. Ipse dixit.

[dipsydoodle]

16. I normally just say

Animal Farm but that's a shorter expression meaning the same........no pun intended.

[neoralme]

8. You are very brave.

[SkyDaddy7]

21. Obama does not have a magic wand...

If Congress freaks out & most of wimpy America freaks out at the thought of trying him in US Courts there is nothing Obama can do about it! Plus, Military Courts are not much different from regular courts so the idea he won't get the justice he deserves is BS! Matter of a fact Military Courts have not been as hard on terrorist as US Courts have!

So, your Obama = Bush comment is naive at best!

[SkyDaddy7]

22. Whatever...Obama does not have a magic wand!

If Congress freaks out & most of wimpy America freaks out at the thought of trying him in US Courts there is nothing Obama can do about it! Plus, Military Courts are not much different from regular courts so the idea he won't get the justice he deserves is BS! Matter of a fact Military Courts have not been as hard on terrorist as US Courts have!

So, your Obama = Bush comment is naive at best!

[Freddie Stubbs]

9. Yes, he did. But Congress passed legislation to stop him from doing so

[JDPriestly]

18. Excuses! Excuses! As I recall, Bush did not get permission to put prisoners

into Guantanamo until after he had started to do so.

Obama does not hesitate to send fighter jets into Libya without a declaration of war by Congress, but he can't close down Guantanamo without asking Mother May I.

[Freddie Stubbs]

20. Congress never passed legislation barring Bush from doing so

[sudopod]

4. :/ nt

[ixion]

5. Kangaroo Courts in the Banana Republic US.

not only is this trial a travesty of justice, that it occurs TEN YEARS after the fact is something that should give any American distress.

[Fearless]

10. +1

[kickysnana]

11. +1

[mysterysoup]

14. +10

[Psephos]

13. How can they hold a trial at Gitmo? It's been closed since Jan 2010, right?

Wasn't that the PROMISE?

Why, yes it WAS the promise...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQXZoM__vU0

[gratuitous]

15. Will the conditions of his incarceration be an issue?

Or will the tribunal rule that out of bounds from the get-go? After all, it probably wouldn't look good for the details of Mr. Mohammed's repeated waterboarding to come out at a real trial. Better to just get Casey Jones warming up the steam train and railroad this through. Will they actually import some Australian wildlife, or settle for doing this on the cheap?

Yeah, yeah. KSM is a horrible person and a terrorist. But if they can do this to him today, they'll do it to you tomorrow. That's how it works.

[moondust]

17. Koran burning.

High-profile public trials in New York could get people killed in Kandahar.

[Bragi]

25. And doing it at Gitmo looks better?

I also question the idea that somehow the Taliban need extra motivation to attack Western troops in Kandahar. After 10 years, they seem to already be a highly-motivated enemy.

[moondust]

27. Out of sight...

out of mind.

[Politicalboi]

19. How can tortured evidence be used?

This is outrageous. Is the government too afraid? What no evidence? Let's all see the evidence they have. Including video stolen by the FBI from other businesses around the Pentagon. Let's see it once and for all. This is such bullshit. How can they steal that away from us? People call us "truthers" crazy, but now you see how they deal with 9/11. Behind closed doors. This is what makes me go crazy about this shit. Until I see more evidence I will NEVER be convinced that 19 "terrorist" were able to take America by "surprise" for over 2 hours. Just think about that for a minute. Even the Pentagon did NOTHING to protect D.C. Is that reality? First thing out of their mouths was not to blame anyone. LOL! Bullshit.

[harmonicon]

28. "... but these are really GOOD kangaroos!!" nt.

[alp227]

31. when obama wanted to try KSM in fed court that brought up lots of bad PR

and now that he's declared for 2012 he can't afford any more smears and stuff like that and a possible "Obama: Soft on Crime" ad a la Michael Dukakis 1988.

[pettypace]

32. Can we look at the big picture?

Khalid has admitted to being the mastermind (allegedly) so why are we shedding crocodile tears on WHERE the guys gets his just desserts.

It's a serious question.

[No Elephants]

33. " Khalid has admitted to being the mastermind (allegedly)"

Maybe you answered your own question?

Besides, either we have a Bill of Rights or we don't.