Bombshell: Obama bringing KSM to NYC for trial; former Bush AG Mukasey responds: “High risk of attack”
It’s Friday. The president is flying off to Asia. Congress is not in session. Perfect time to drop a bombshell on the American people:
The Obama administration is bringing 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheik Mohammed to New York City for a civilian trial.
No, it’s not a joke. Via the NYT:
Self-proclaimed Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four other Guantanamo Bay detainees will be sent to New York to face trial in a civilian federal court, an Obama administration official said Friday.
The official said Attorney General Eric Holder plans to announce the decision later in the morning.
The official is not authorized to discuss the decision before the announcement, so spoke on condition of anonymity.
Bringing such notorious suspects to U.S. soil to face trial is a key step in President Barack Obama’s plan to close the terror suspect detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Obama initially planned to close the detention center by Jan. 22, but the administration is no longer expected to meet that deadline.
It is also a major legal and political test of Obama’s overall approach to terrorism. If the case suffers legal setbacks, the administration will face second-guessing from those who never wanted it in a civilian courtroom. And if lawmakers get upset about notorious terrorists being brought to their home regions, they may fight back against other parts of Obama’s agenda.
Here is the e-mail the DOD’s Director Victim Witness Program sent out to victims, survivors, and family members of jihadi attacks this morning (via Sgt. Tim Sumner, brother-in-law of FDNY Joseph G. Leavey, 45, Ladder 15, WTC):
You are receiving this email because you have been identified as a victim, survivor, or victim family member of an Al-Qaeda attributed attack and have requested to be kept informed of events involving detainees charged in military commissions or being held in the Guantanamo Bay Detention Facility in connection with those attacks.
We would like to inform you that the U.S. Departments of Defense and Justice will be making an important public announcement later this morning. At 10:30 am Eastern Standard Time, the Office of Justice for Victims of Overseas Terrorism will post information for victims about the announcement on its password protected victims’ website. At 11:00 am the Defense and Justice Departments will issue a joint press release notifying the public of the information, and there will also be a press conference. In addition, the Defense Department will notify victims about the information by email.
Both the Defense Department (Karen Loftus) and the Justice Department (Heather Cartwright) are sending out this e-mail to ensure that as many victims as possible receive it. We apologize if you receive duplicates. If you know of other victims who may be interested in the information, please pass this on to them.
Here’s what Tim sent in response:
We have an announcement as well: we will fight with every remaining breath in our bodies both their bringing KSM and the rest of the 9/11 conspirators to federal courtrooms within walking distance of where they slaughtered our loved ones. And whomever finds Manhattan’s federal courthouse near Ground Zero a “sentimental favorite” for the 9/11 trials is a damn fool and they ALL ought to be fired. Pass that message on, far, wide, and up and down the chain-of-command.
See here for a petition to the president.
If this White House thought Tea Party activists were an “angry mob,” wait until they see the backlash from 9/11 family members and their supporters nationwide. We’re not going to sit down and shut up about the reckless, security-undermining Obama 9/10 agenda and conflict-of-interest-ridden AG Eric Holder.
Call them out.
***
I’ve written extensively over the years on the perils of civilian trials for terrorists. See here and here and here for a refresher course in the Ally McBeal
approach to terror.
Here’s a taste of what we have to look forward to:
The idea of prosecuting suspected terrorists like burglars or drug dealers seems to make sense in principle, but jury trials for War on Terror suspects are fraught with peril.
“In ordinary civilian trials, there is no significant cost to sharing everything the government knows,” notes Johns Hopkins international law professor Ruth Wedgwood. “But this does not hold against the background of Al Qaeda’s stated ambition of mounting new attacks.” Affording accused Al Qaeda operatives the Sixth Amendment right to a public trial threatens to compromise classified information necessary to prosecute future terrorist trials. Other rights guaranteed by the Sixth Amendment’s the right to subpoena witnesses and compel them to testify, the right to an attorney, can interfere with interrogations of captured suspected Al Qaeda agents. Moreover, in civilian courtrooms, prosecutors are severely restrained from closing off classified information under the existing federal Classified Information Procedure Act. Anonymous testimony and intelligence based on hearsay are often inadmissible in civilian courts. And while the lives of those immediately involved in say, a mob trial, might be endangered, the entire nation may be at risk when we allow suspected members of a terrorist network to partake in the discovery process.
The prosecution of the 1993 World Trade Center bombers in our civilian court system, though successful, demonstrated the pitfalls of prosecuting the War on Terror like an episode of the TV show “Ally McBeal” — a courtroom comedy. The trials gave the bin Laden network a multi-million-dollar, tax-subsidized defense team, free translation services, personal dry-cleaning services, and access to information that was allegedly used by Islamists to evade surveillance.
All of the convicted World Trade Center bombers received life sentences. Two had faced the death penalty, but were spared by a minority-dominated jury that swallowed the race-baiting of traitorous defense witness Ramsey Clark (the former U.S. attorney general under Lyndon Johnson). Clark testified that no member of a racial minority group — African-American, Arab or otherwise — could expect a fair trial in the U.S. He also blamed the Gulf War and U.S. sanctions on Iraq for creating the psychological “suffering” that led to the embassy attacks. On another front, convicted mastermind Sheik Omar Abdul Rahman may have exploited his right to counsel in order to establish a terrorist message center from behind bars. His lawyer, Lynne Stewart, was indicted in the fall of 2003 on charges of providing material support to terrorists and went to trial in May 2004; she is accused of aiding a plot to kidnap and kill people to help win the release of Rahman and making false statements regarding her efforts to pass messages between Rahman and third parties…
Stewart was convicted of aiding terrorists and lying to the government in 2005 — for which she received a slap on the wrist. She is still free pending appeal.
***
Andy McCarthy exposes the underlying Obama/Holder agenda. The 9/11 show trials are a payoff to the Bush-haters and transnational Left:
We are now going to have a trial that never had to happen for defendants who have no defense. And when defendants have no defense for their own actions, there is only one thing for their lawyers to do: put the government on trial in hopes of getting the jury (and the media) spun up over government errors, abuses and incompetence. That is what is going to happen in the trial of KSM et al. It will be a soapbox for al-Qaeda’s case against America. Since that will be their “defense,” the defendants will demand every bit of information they can get about interrogations, renditions, secret prisons, undercover operations targeting Muslims and mosques, etc., and — depending on what judge catches the case — they are likely to be given a lot of it. The administration will be able to claim that the judge, not the administration, is responsible for the exposure of our defense secrets. And the circus will be played out for all to see — in the middle of the war. It will provide endless fodder for the transnational Left to press its case that actions taken in America’s defense are violations of international law that must be addressed by foreign courts. And the intelligence bounty will make our enemies more efficient at killing us.
And read this timely excerpt from McCarthy’s invaluable Willful Blindness: “Bring my lawyer! — That’s what’s so beautiful about America.”
***
Update: Just heard that former Bush AG Michael Mukasey will be addressing the Federalist Society National Lawyer’s Convention today at the Mayflower in Washington, D.C. at 2:15pm today and will take on the White House decision to prosecute Khalid Shaikh Mohammed in his speech.
Update: Details on Mukasey’s speech…
Former Attorney General Michael Mukasey said today that it is highly likely that terrorists will attack New York City as a consequence of the Obama administration’s decision to send five alleged Sept. 11 plotters there for trial in federal court.
During a question and answer period following a speech to a conservative legal group, Mukasey was asked about the possibility that there might be an escape by one or more prisoners.
“The [Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan] is a very secure place….Is it secure? Of course, it’s secure. They’re not going to escape,” Mukasey told a conference of the Federalist Society. “The question is not whether they’re going to escape. The question is whether, not only that particular facility, but the city [at] large, will then become the focus for mischief in the form of murder by adherents of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed–whether this raises the odds that it will. I would suggest to you that it raises them very high.”
Mukasey said the men now to be tried in New York should have been left before military commission proceedings at Guantanamo that were already in progress.
“The plan seems to be to abandon the view that we’re in a war,” Mukasey said. “I can’t see anything good coming out of this. I certainly can’t see anything good coming out of it very quickly. And it think it would have been far preferable to try these case in the venue that Congress created for trying and where they were about to be tried.”
And more thorough coverage of Mukasey’s speech from Philip Klein here.
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Categories: Ally McBeal approach, Eric Holder, Gitmo
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I suspect there will be at least one, maybe 2, terror attacks in NYC. This will really hurt the democrats come election time. It will certainly dump Obama’s approval way low. It is a very bad mistake, moving them, but the government is steeped in “pc” behavior.
We will provide you with a quality parachute, perfectly packed, and a reserve of similar to boot, alon with life raft, etc. etc.
Just give us the date, time, and location of your pickup.
It will also hurt the Americans at the point of attack.
Bottom line is these ideologs will put a city of 10 million at risk for the sake of their ideological purity and political objectives.
To h@11 with the people in the bullseye. They, like aborted babies, are acceptable casualties for the “greater good.”
How brave and self indulgent to risk other peoples children just to show the world that “he” is better than “them”?…and this is worst possible insult to the muslims…to be forced to swear on the Bible and lie to the world. Possibly if they were sworn in on the Koran…they might tell the truth and then this whole thing could be over before to many school children have to die (taking over a school will be one of the most likely attacks)….How many times can you mock Justice before the word becomes meaningless?
Wouldn’t it be a shame…maybe a crime….if this was done because someone thought it would be “fun” to put the “previous administration” trial….all those children at risk just so they can put George Bush on the stand and grill him for weeks on end?…… and George will submit very humbly of course….
Obama continues to give America the middle finger. Nothing more than that, no other reason to do this or anything else he has done thus far.
If it does happen, it will be time for the conservative movement to strike, and hard, keeping up the pressure until they are all humilated and sent home in disgrace.
I was on jury duty at the Federal Courthouse in Alexandria, VA back when Zacarias Moussaoui was on trial. I was instructed to call in every day to see if I was needed over a two week period.
Finally after about 4 or 5 days they admitted that they were petrified of terrorist attacks and I would not be asked to come to the courthouse and I would not need to call each day.
These people learn nothing.
I hope this causes even more taxpayers to leave the city forever.
Other than to give liberals a trial of the Bush administration by proxy, I see no earthly reason for these platforms-for-terrorists, a.k.a., “trials,” to take place anywhere else but Gitmo.
Hopefully a change of venue order will be issued and these show-trials moved outside NYC/NY, for the safety of all New Yorkers.
Think about the jury members.
Who on this forum wishes to be on THAT jury?
Not me.
Jury members are likely to be in grave danger to their own personal safety as well as the safety of their family and loved ones. Their homes and property are likely to be in danger as well.
Does anyone really believe that the 1.2 to 1.5 billion Muslims on planet earth, ad their enablers and sympathizers, plus the millions of leftists-fifth columnists here in the USA and abroad won’t threaten jurors and their families, and won’t attempt violence, harassment, and intimidation?
Remember, according to the Messiah, Barrack Hussein Obama, the United States of America is NOT a Christian nation but it IS one of the Largest Muslim nations in the world, having one of the largest Muslim populations in the world. The USA has many Muslims, including many Jihadis right here on our soil.
It only takes one, but the potential exists that many “just one” Jihadis, acting on their own, multiplies the threat and potential for damage.
One man recently slaughtered dozens in Ft. Hood, Texas, killing at least 14 people. Another shot several at LA Airport, while another crashed an aircraft full of innocent passengers. Still another ran own university students in the University of Carolina campus, while another entered a Jewish Community Center and shot eight women.
Another shot and killed his two daughters, while another beheaded his wife, all on US Soil, all done by Muslims, all because they were Muslims, motivated by their belief in Islam itself and the hatred fomented by their Islamic belief.
Another man, with an illegal alien youth, killed more than a dozen people in a three week terror rampage in which they terrorized the Washington, D.C. area, sniping at innocent people, and that was done AFTER a nationwide killing spree, also motivated by Islamic pretensions.
No. I don’t want to serve as a juror in those terrorist civilian Federal trials. They will be in grave danger, as will the judges and prosecuting attorneys. After the trial they will continue to be in grave danger.
Add to the danger to innocent citizens selected as jurors and the danger they will face, plus the time they spend away from their families, their jobs, school, etc., inconveniencing them and their families, businesses, and employers, and you have citizens suffering for violent thugs. Then conside the millions, and possibly billions of dollars that these show trials will cost and you have an even greater burden on the taxpayer.
Then the police and security channelled toward this trial, siphoning off police from protecting the citizens of New York and you have an even greater burden on the citizens, all for the beneit of blood and death lusting Jihadis.
Add to that the danger to local residents and businesses, employees, and passersby as NYC becomes a target by other Jihadis sympathetic to the cause and willing to blow themselves up and take a few dozen, few hundred, or few thousand “infidels” with them for the cause.
It isn’t worth it!
This entire idea is a sick idea from a President, AG, and administration which does not have a clue and should be put in a insane asylum, not serving in the highest office in the US government!
William’s right…any juror is putting himself and his family in danger, not to mention risk losing his job given the amount of time he would have to take off to serve. (An employer can’t fire someone for simply being on a jury, but an employer can cut that guy as part of a “layoff” process.) Jurors would have to look over their shoulders the rest of their lives.
This is another thing that the administration didn’t think about. But Obama and Holder couldn’t care less about ordinary people. It’s all about their moral vanity, placating the Arabs/the far left, and getting their big chance to put Bush/Cheney on trial.
My kids are grown. Will they be upset if I come to court with an M4?
LMAO
Hey New Yorkers, are you loving that hope and change you asked for? I know the response from those of you who are not complete lunatics….. I didn’t know he would do this kind of stuff…..
Next time, listen to what the candidate is saying and find out who and what are in control of the House and Senate before you vote. This country cannot afford too many more moronic decisions like putting the democrat surrender monkeys in charge.
mmmmmm, mmmmmm, mmmmmm!
Don’t any of you concerned about the safety of jurors worry. I’m sure Obama will soon be reaching out to those fabled “moderate” Taliban to be part of the jury pool, that way the constitutional right of these monsters to have a “jury of their peers” isn’t violated.
aggiebe,
Great idea!
Can you imagine AG Holder recruiting US and overseas al Qaeda, Taliban, Hizbollah, Hamas, al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, and other terrorist organization members, and other Jihadis, as jury members so that the accused in this case can be judged by a “jury of their peers?”
Another consideration,
Because these accused terrorists are Muslims, will AG Holder and the rest of the court system related to this case, and will Obama himself, ensure that ONLY Muslims are selected for the jury?
If the jury is not comprised of only Jihadi-terrorists and/or only Muslims, then how can these accused terrorists be judged by a TRUE “jury of their peers?”
Actually,
With THIS administration, I would not be surprised!
san francisco sounds like a winner. the town that elected pelosi would consider any terrorist as compensation for pain and suffering endured at gitmo.
I can see them blending in and tolerating the lifestyle there.
Well, it may not be the popular view around here, but I’m glad they are going to have the trial in NYC.
That means they won’t have it in Houston or Orlando or Spokane or Raleigh or anywhere else anywhere near the people I love and care about most.
Is that selfish? I don’t see how. Obama is determined to have civilian trials in America for foreign jihadi terrorists. Those circuses will have to be held somewhere.
Washington D.C would be a better location, and San Francisco or Boston would do as well, but NYC is a better location than most. If we are going to commit suicide, it’s only ‘fair’ we start with the most suicidal parts of the country.
I’m sure they’ll be able to find plenty of New Yorkers happy to serve on the jury.
HI FLYOVERMAN–I’ve got an ANVIL to contribute to KSM’s parachute–just send me the address of the packer and I will forward it to him.
***
I calculate this POS will be breaking the sound barrier as he “punches through” on his way to meet his 72 demons in Hell–if you include the anvil “booster”.
***
Smoke ‘em if you got ‘em!
***
John Bibb
***
Some winner/whinner-however it is spelled-from the DNC is praising this decision that the trial be held in the shadows of the Twin Towers. It is really amzing that even a Democratic Party activist/shill doesn’t know THERE ARE NO TWIN TOWERS-THE ARABS KNOCKED THEM DOWN. Now it is Mayor Bloomberg and Obama’s problem. Leave the rest of us out of it.
ahem.
“The values of this Western civilization under the leadership of America have been destroyed.
Those awesome symbolic towers that speak of liberty, human rights, and humanity have
been destroyed. They have gone up in smoke.” — Osama bin Laden, October, 2001
http://www.TwinTowersAlliance.com
Did we try WWII war criminals in a civilian court? So why try these muslim war crimals on U.S. soil?
The answer is Obama wants to put the Bush administration on trial and not the Al Qaeda terrorists. This is all dirty politics. Obama will stoop to anything to score points with his left-wing comrades and fellow muslims around the world.
I have this vison of Wile E. Coyote wearing a WWII flying cap and goggles strapped in an Acme parachute…..
I have decided that if I was on that jury I would find him NOT GUILTY. I would see it as being used by the corrupt current administration, and I would not take the heat of convicting him. So as far as I am concerned, He is not INNOCENT.
Will NYC lose money from loss of tourism during the long trials or will they gain money from all the media types and feds renting the best rooms in the city? My guess is it will be a wash at best and probably a net loss in tax revenue.
I’m confused. You don’t think he’s innocent but you would find him not guilty? What am I missing? Why would you let him loose to kill more innocent people just to prevent Obama from taking credit for a conviction? Or is it mainly because you can’t “take the heat”? That sounds pretty cowardly to me. If the heat from convicting a mass-murdering terrorist is going to make you P your pants, Mister P, please get out of jury duty. Telling them you have already decided not to convict should do the trick.
If I understand him correctly, Mister P is talking about jury nullification. In this case he would be nullifying the President’s claim to the right to grant full American civil rights, including civilian trials, to foreign terrorists.
The quickest way to get that kind of insanity ‘fixed’ would be by releasing the terrorists. The American voter might finally get the message about Obama and the Congressional Democrats.
That action would also have the added benefit of keeping the juror and his family out of the line of fire in this war, a place they should never have been put in the first place.
Just think: If there are conservatives thinking this way, just imagine how a ‘moderate’ Muslim would view it. And KSM just needs one.
Giving terrorists civilian trials has got to be the single worst decision any American President has ever made.
We need to contact every Senator & let them know that we will make them pay for bringing these animals back onto American soil.. Id nothing else, it’s a symbolic victory for terrorists, & a blow to the morale of Americans everywhere during a hard time. By the way, the Governor of Illinois has called us all “Fear Mongers”.. Fill his mail box!
This scumbag Governor just called it an “economic opportunity”.. We need to make them all pay politically..
KSM will walk free right out of the courtroom via a slam dunk defense. Among other things he was …. he was never Mirandized.