Recent Comments

1. over 14 years ago on Michael Ramirez

   Hey, sounds like a great decision to try KSM and his pals in a civilian NYC courtroom despite the fact that an earlier bipartisan congressional decision came to the opposite conclusion, that scores of legal professionals toiled over the rules for trying enemy combatants in military tribunals to ensure they were fair and just (as confirmed by experts and third-party panels on both sides of the debate), and we already spent millions of dollars on facilities specifically designed to hold these trials offshore.

   There are a few, unfortunate downsides to Holder’s decision however (and Obama’s complicity in said choice). In no particular order they are: 1. Increased risk to the population of NYC 2. Increase cost of security estimated to exceed $17 million 3. Greater chance that classified intelligence will be leaked (if not disclosed outright) and used in future terrorist efforts 4. Greater chance that defendants’ sentences will be mitigated due to the higher bar necessitated by a civilian court, evidence that can’t be disclosed, and confessions that aren’t admissible because they were made under duress (after all, no sane juror can doubt that water-boarding is torture can they?) or because they weren’t read their Miranda rights 5. Opportunity for this to turn into a show trial that defendants can use as a PR / recruiting tool. 6. Lastly, a greater incentive for terrorists to target civilians on our own soil for future attacks rather than our military personnel stationed overseas because of this new precedent (otherwise, like the USS Cole attackers, they’ll get a military trial).

   Upside: The administration gets to throw a bone to his critics on the far left, and we “prove” to the rest of the world that the US legal system is the best in the world (in a related topic, OJ’s search for his wife’s killer continues).