Obama administration retreats (again) on Khalid Sheikh Mohammed civilian trial; Holder blames Congress
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Buzz out of Washington this morning is that the Obama administration has signaled it will end efforts to try 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed in a civilian trial and instead will use the Gitmo military tribunal system pursued by, yes, George W. Bush.
AG Eric Holder is reportedly holding a 2pm Eastern press conference.
Here’s a blurb from CBS:
Attorney General Eric Holder today will announce that self-proclaimed Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammad will be tried in a military commission, CBS News has learned. A source says the commission will be held at the Guantanamo Bay prison.
Trying Mohammed in a civilian court and closing the Guantanamo prison were once some of the Obama administration’s top priorities, but political realities have hamstrung both goals.
Holder previously recommended that Mohammed and four other alleged Sept. 11 plotters be tried in New York City, but he scrapped that plan in the wake of public consternation.
Not just “political realities.”
Homeland security realities.
Public safety realities.
Intelligence realities.
Wartime realities.
Reality realities.
Reality bites. Sanity wins. For now.
Flashback to November 2009, when Obama/AG Holder embarked on their futile mission to treat Mohammed like your common domestic criminal.
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 this:
The five men facing trial in the Sept. 11 attacks will plead not guilty so that they can air their criticisms of U.S. foreign policy, the lawyer for one of the defendants said Sunday. Scott Fenstermaker, the lawyer for accused terrorist Ali Abd al-Aziz Ali, said the men would not deny their role in the 2001 attacks but “would explain what happened and why they did it.”
The U.S. Justice Department announced earlier this month that Ali and four other men accused of murdering nearly 3,000 people in the deadliest terrorist attack in the U.S. will face a civilian federal trial just blocks from the site of the destroyed World Trade Center. Ali, also known as Ammar al-Baluchi, is a nephew of professed 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. Mohammed, Ali and the others will explain “their assessment of American foreign policy,” Fenstermaker said.
“Their assessment is negative,” he said.
Chalk up another “Emily ‘Never Mind’ Litella” Moment for feckless Team Obama:
***
Not coincidentally, Obama’s national security ratings have fallen to a new low.
Twitter users are having a field day with #Obama2012slogans. The latest in response to the Khalid retreat:
“Next Time I Really Am Closing Gitmo.”
Jan. 22, 2009 Obama’s executive order on closing Gitmo.
**
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.
Previous Obama Gitmo retreat/trial posts…
11/17/2010 The DoJ’s Civil Trial Balloon Pops; Update: Bush’s Fault, of Course
3/4/2010 National security flip-flop: Obama to retreat on KSM/Gitmo detainee civilian trials…for now
1/28/2010 Retreat: White House plays jihadi musical chairs
***
2:10pm Eastern AG Holder press conference. He says he embarked on shutting down Gitmo and forcing civilian trials with an “open mind.”
Pretends to speak for the 9/11 families — who raised their voices most loudly against KSM trial in New York City.
Says the Bush-era military tribunals will be fair and just, after all…
Whines about congressional restrictions based on national security/public safety concerns.
Still intends to close Gitmo.
Whines about critics trying to “score political points.”
Whines about “needless” debate.
Peppered with questions about his contradictory views on military tribunals and his condescension towards Americans who criticized civilian trial plans, a testy Holder cuts and runs.
Eric Holder: Honorary Fleebagger of the Day.
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Categories: Ally McBeal approach,Eric Holder,Gitmo,Islam,War



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I guess they decided to reserve the courtroom for Gaddafi.
If found guilty would he get death or life? If he gets death would bho be able to pardon him?
L
A bullet in the head is quick and cheap.
For KSM I mean. Just wanted to make that clear.
B-b-b-but I thought Gitmo was evil?
Solid advice. Do it quickly while there’s still time!
An obscure, nutty Florida preacher burning a Quran is harmful to our troops because of the reaction in the “Arab street” but staging a circus trial in public? I guess Team Obama thought they would be okay with that.
It is so-o-o-o hard to fight a
warkinetic action againstIslamic extremistsan enemy to be named later without offending them.Now if only he would discover reality with every other aspect of his presidency.
The Bush Boomerang effect…
This is my favorite picture of Bluto.
Lay you odds the espoused reason for not being able to go forward with a civilian trial is because GWB somehow screwed it up. Takers?
I for one welcome our Muslim overlords, since obviously the law doesn’t apply to them….
/sarc
If the GOP decides to campaign to win the White House next year, they just need to take cuts of B.O.’s 2008 speeches and then compare the realities.
This guy has back tracked on so many promises that campaign ads pretty much write themselves.
But if the GOP nominates another McCain, then they’ll take the civil approach to losing again.
What is this, the 150th Bush-era decision that Obama swore he’d reverse… until he grew up and saw the truth?
What a complete amateur.
“Not just ‘political realities.’
Reality realities.”
That’s what popped into my head the moment I read that, too!
Reality does have a way of destroying campaign rhetoric.
Rule of Law?
Yeah, I miss it too……
Military Gitmo trials, starting a war in the Middle East, Out of control spending.
This is Bush’s third term!
KSM should be dead already. The truth is, this administration doesn’t want him to be…
Consternation? Oh yeah, it was my Father’s consternation that caused him to paddle my @$$ when I did something stupid when I was young.
IIRC, didn’t KSM already have a tribunal trial before the Oh! administration started jacking things up? Or, at least hadn’t it started?
O.J. Simpson
Reality, what a concept!
Kinetic Military Prosecution
We couldn’t kills KSM anyway, for that might invoke outrage in the Muslim world and cause the loss of innocent lives. Similar to the way in which the U.S. government is condeming the burning of the Koran as a potential incitement of violence.
Re pic: I was they’d stop digging up John Belushi and snapping his pic, let the poor man RIP.
Kinda reminds me of the JIMMY DURANTE song from “The Man Who Came To Dinner”… “FIRST I DECIDED TO GO, THEN DECIDED TO STAY. THEN I DECIDED TO STAY, BUT DECIDED TO GO”… C’mon 2012!!!
Hey Holder! I have an idea. Why not use that now-discarded civilian trial to go after these guys?
It is unlikely that he will ever get the death penalty.
But, could we at least collect the urine of 1000 jewish prostitutes and pour it into a tub in order to give him a bath?
KSM should have been tried and executed long before The One took office.
Ex Lax should take care of that.
is it still april fools day? i thought gitmo was closed in 2009, due to that first executive order from obama. do you mean to tell me, he lied, and gitmo is not closed, and still open for business? rush will love this news, so his thriving merchandising business will stay viable for now.
For everybody’s info, milk of magnesia is actually the best for such a situation. It is a great laxative, can calm a mildly upset stomach and will even help heal bed sores and irritated skin.
Actually, I think he has more of a resemblance to Rosie O’Donnell…
I’d like to buy a giant billboard ad next year on I-75 South “REAL AMERICANS VOTE REPUBLICAN – REMEMBER SEPTEMBER 11.” Shown with the picture of The Falling Man.
Politically incorrect? Tough luck.
Someone said this is Bush’s Third Term. No Doubt![#17]
Andrew Napolitano, Jack Hunter, and many others think this way as well.
He’s done everything bad that bush did, it’s just on steroids! From TARP, to Stimulus, to Tax Rate Reductions, to spending increases, to Mortgage Bail Outs, to government take overs. If Bush did it, Obama just does more of it. Kinda Funny in some respect. We have but one Party in D.C., the Big Government Party….
This is Holder’s own personal man-caused disaster.
fify.
Barry O: “Bugler, sound retreat!”
“To the rooooooooo……….Harrrrrrrrrr!”
FIFY
Would you settle for 50 gallons of Joy’s and Whoopi’s ?
Not Reality…. Actuality. Phrase courtesy of TruTV.
There’s a drink where one combines Vodka with milk of magnesia. It’s called a Phillips screwdriver.
I truly feel bad for Joy’s ‘partner’. Can you imagine how far his testicles had to receed into his own body in order to make that relationship work?
I feel like sending him a sympathy card (the same kind people get when a loved one dies) and asking him if that is really the best he can do in life.
Talk about settling for less.
Could somebody please tell me what the hell is going on? I know it’s asking a lot, but I would really like to know if somebody actually understands what the foreign policy of the United States is, at least for the next 20 minutes or so?
Can someone please explain to me how staging terrorist trials in NYC was somehow the ‘crown jewel’ for The Left going into the ’08 Campaign?
Closing Gitmo for that matter? Or was this just more “180 -out- from whatever BUSH did!” rhetoric? Other than modo-fees for Holder’s former firm, what was to be gained by this sideshow?
prendad said:
From what I understand anymore, it is the Protect and Fight your enemy at the same time approach.
Your current foreign policy is to win the hearts and minds of the Muslim world. It is based on this false notion that you need their oil.
Sure, prendad.
Lets Spinnnnnnnn the big foreign policy wheel.
Is Libya our friend or enemy?
Whirrrrrrrr…..tictictictictictictictictictic…tic…tic…tic…tic…tic…..tic……..tic……….tic………….tic……………..tic: F R I E N D
I would really like to know if somebody actually understands what the foreign policy of the United States is?
Now to coin it as I really see it;
The policy of Cluster F…
Then tell me this: are we supporting the Losing side of the “skirmish” in Libya, standing with the rebels? Are we getting whupped by Q-Daffy’s forces? Or what side are we on? And Why are we on any side?
Canada is America’s largest supplier of oil. Given both Canada’s and America’s proven reserves, we should be able to wean ourselves off of middle east oil.
Instead of the U.S. government sending billions of dollars in ‘aid’ to Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Yemen etc., they could either not spend the money (best choice) or if they really wanted to give it away, send it to Canada. We could make a deal that you can have better access to our oil and we get money to help with our ailing healthcare system.
***
I do fault President Bush 43 for not having held the GITMO tribunal within a year after KSM’s capture, waterboarding, and ratting out his fellow Jihadi murderers.
***
With 6 months for an appeal of his death sentence–and then the traditional Texas long drop with a short rope. GITMO should have been his grave site before Comrade Obama ever took office.
***
Saddam Hussein swinging on the end of a rope was real regime change. Libya’s Quadaffi could use a hemp necktie also. But it won’t happen with the Messiah in office.
***
John Bibb
***
The left’s argument of ‘No War for Oil’ wouldn’t have any bite if they had to scream ‘No improvement in Public Health Care for Canadians for Oil’.
rocketman said:
No, that couldn’t happen, ’cause the Messiah would keep raising the dead.
Obama would never allow Quadaffi to be killed, he isn’t an unborn fetus in a mother’s womb.
I watched a segment of the big buffoon show (Bill O’reilly) that had a female Arab doctor (ex-Muslim) who schooled him on Islam’s stance towards women. His ignorance or lack of comprehension of the teachings of Islam was astounding for a man who self-promotes himself as “one who is looking out for the people”. Unfortunately, he is one of many media elitists (is that an oxymoron), politicians of both parties, religious leaders and a large segment of the international society that embraces relativism (the PC crowd that infects the Western world). Until these groups educate themselves on Islam’s fundamental ideology and then without fear, publicly espouse the danger to Western civilization from a barbaric way of life (I refuse to label Islam a religion); the continuation of rationalization for Islam’s violent disposition will not cease.
Lodonistan is a perfect example of how accepting Islam is a mistake.
FIFY
Hangfire, very nice! The trouble with that is getting a burkha for Vanna White.
It appears that Obama is now around to 360 degrees from whatever Bush did.
He should be offering ‘tax cuts for the wealthy’ any time now…
Spoken like the true gameshow host Teh Won was meant to be!
For some time I and others have noted, once you’ve gleaned out the Body Language segment, P & P etc. after you’ve seen the talking points ( you’ve pretty much seen the show? )
… would be a CRIME!
Nor did he survive an abortion attempt, in which case The Usurper would have stuffed him in a utility closet to die.
Move right along, now; nothing to see here; move right along.
It’s pure coincidence that the Kinetic Non-Prosecutor just happened to announce this reversal the same day as the Kinetic Dissembler begins his 2012 campaign (as if he ever stopped campaigning). [sarc off]
Oh Dear. What will the truther movement do then?
The same thing they always do. Go to work for the Obama administration.
FIFY
Hiyeah, if Rosie had less chest hair!
..”what happened and why they did it”..
I don’t give a rodent’s rump as to their whiny little proclamations. My position is to put one behind their ears & let nature turn them into fertilizer.
what about one for Michelle
OsamaObama?(dang, why do I keep making that fraudian slip?)
Keeping Gitmo open right now is actually good for Obama.
Think on this a bit. Obama promised all this stuff, and it didn’t happen, so he can in the next election cycle blame Republicans for his failure, and rally his base to again vote for him and for more Democrats in congress/senate to fight the stubborn Republican machine that keeps thwarting his plans.
Aerosmith
That’s right boys and girls, I made down to the Sunshine State. God, I hate it here!!
Now, back to business. I see B.O. and his toy poodle finally made a decision about KSM and Co. Apparently, the screams of indignation of tens of thousands of people and the brutal cost of trying this animals in federal court finally stoped this morons. Now, if we could just give them the electric chair, I would volunteer to push Old Sparky’s lever. Just take the old girl out of retirement in Starke. And the best part is, I would even pay the electric bill!
Alas, a man can only dream. Between PBHO and Steadman, there isn’t a pair of gonads.
BK:
how about a potato sack for that ass?
123upnorth:
Like I have said before, you’re certifiable. FOREIGN POLICY??? There isn’t such animal in Obamao’s guvmint. This is just amateur hour. Everybody says and does whatever they feel like, with no rime or reason.
Unfortunately, we the people will eventually pay a very high price in blood and treasure for this idiots’ stupidity.
Dexter Alarius:
Ditto. Have you seen her Playboy spread?
Obama to Daley:
Now Bill, run my most current precious closely-held morals and values by me once again please. . . .
Obama announces his reelection bid for 2012 and then realized, “uh-oh I better look tough on the war on terror. Not that I real believe there’s a war on terror, but I have to look tough to the American people like I really do belive that there is.” “OK”, says The One, “Military Tribunal for KSM!!”
how does a retired boxer have any say on foreign policy?
I’ll settle for the Missouri way (a Will Munny treat, so to speak):
“you remember that drover I shot through the mouth and his teeth came out the back of his head? I think about him now and again.”
spaceycskes:
How? He’s a moooosleeeem. That’s all the qualifications he needs. And if you disagee, you’re a bigoted American. (Thanks, Greg Gutfeld)
Oops, I meant disagree. Sorry.
DI Clapper: “Git mo? Git mo what? Git me some too! BTW, how are those boys holding up in Stalag 17?”
Will Munny treat, so to speak):
Will Munny: I meant I didn’t want a free one with Alice or Silky. Because of my wife back home. I reckon if I was to want a free one, it would be with you.
So Eric Holder is blaming Congress for preventing the sacred White House administration from closing Gtmo.
Hmmmm….I wonder how Pelosi and Reid feel about being blamed for keeping Gtmo open?
Hey Harry, who you calling smelly???
Attorney General Epic Failed-er is lecturing us on who knows better?
Hey, Epic, what kept you from holding the trial in, say, Puerto Rico. Are there no Federal Courthouses there? Of course there are. What about Guam? Is there a courthouse on Guam? Why, look! There is! There’s one on Saipan, too!
I’m pretty sure it’s easier to monitor the comings and goings in PR than it is in NYC. No congressmen there to tell you “no” either.
Is it a stupid idea? Yes it’s a stupid idea. It was a stupid idea when your boss campaigned on it.
And, guess what? We ALL knew better even then.
Stay tuned. These guys are clueless. Their moral compass has been demagnetized and they are blowing in the wind. Who knows what they will say next.
My favorite conservative: Old Man Lebowski.
I’m just now seeing this movie for the first time, and Old Man Lebowski’s dialogue is brilliant.
The picture looks like most cab drivers in D.C.
Love the D.C. Cab music.
rambingman:
Once again, Eric Holder and his master, B.O. demonstrate a complete ignorance of the Constitution. Just because TEHWON WANTS Gitmo closed and its human carrion brought here, it doesn’t mean they can do it. Congress has the power of the purse (ahhh, that pesky separation of powers thingy). So, MORONS, INC. can’t just run roughshod over the rest of us. Please, jackasses, for once you have been FORCED to do the right thing. Quit whinning! It’s gettng tiresome to see this Keystone Kops crying over spilled milk.
T-Bone:
You got that right, brother. Please keep testifying! Shout it to the four corners of the Earth!! WE ARE LEAD BY FREAKIN’ IDIOTS!!!!!
WHO IS BARRY SOETORO????
Remember in November.
Supposedly he was “waterboarded” 172 times, but I think he was confusing being forced to take a shower with waterboarding.
Look at him.
He would consider a spongebath to be torture…All with a face only Ron Jeremy’s mother could love.
Where do we try Holder?
cicerokid:
How about in hell???
If anybody deserves to be put there, for everything he has put the 9/11 families through, it’s Holder.
I caught this FBI story over at Huffpo –
Imagine, 8 Nazis, one of them turned himself in, none of them killed anybody, (that I know of?), none actually sabotaged anything but were all caught within 3 months, tried and convicted in ONE MONTH and 6 were executed a week after that!
That was FDR as president; I’ll settle for having him back.
At your nearest voting booth November 2012.
He does look like Ron Jeremy!!!
Ron Jeremy is the Jennifer Lopez of the porn industry – made it to the top of his profession and when you look at him you are at a loss to explain his success.
Would you guys stop talking about Ron Jeremy? He’s a human hedgehog, the guy that ruined porn for me!! YUCK!!!!
Just because KSM looks like him, you don’t have to remind me. I want to keep my dinner down.