Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, a top 9/11 suspect, and four other Guantanamo detainees will be facing civilian trials in a New York federal court, according to the Obama Administration.
The decision, welcomed by some and condemned by others, will give an air of legitimacy and transparency to trials for detainees who have been held, in some cases under very questionable circumstances.
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed’s case will likely be of particular interest, not just because of his own outspoken nature but because he faced an enormous amount of torture while in American custody. Mohammed was reportedly waterboarded 183 times in 2003.
Handling such a high profile trial in the wake of years of harsh mistreatment by the government will be a particular challenge, and the process will likely be a lengthy one.
But trials aren’t for everybody, it seems. The administration has decided that Omar Khadr, the Canadian-born teenager captured by US forces in 2002, will be sent to the US but will still be charged before a military tribunal. Khadr is charged in the death of a US soldier, but lawyers have maintained that the soldier was killed by a US grenade.
The Obama Administration’s willingness to give civilian trials to Guantanamo detainees, a long-standing complaint of human rights groups and the international community, will likely be praised, but that praise will surely be tempered by the tribunals some will continue to be subjected to. The lack of transparency in how the administration decides which detainees are to be permitted trials and which are not will likewise confound attempts to understand the process.
Ah, poor baby got tortured? I'm against torture, but for this guy I say Obama should let all the american people have a piece of that pie.
yes the one things Americans need is to physically enact all of their sick needs for revenge.
because someone living in Nevada or Hawaii was personally attacked when 3 buildings in Manhattan collapsed.
also just remember to show up to the "Every iraqi and afghan gets to torture their American of choice day"
Obama is going to really look bad when a Federal Judge drops all charges and releases these vermin. You see, there is a little pesky problem called “rules of evidence”. Military and intelligence evidence is not going to qualify in a civillian court. Problems like cross examination of witnesses when evidence is classified or witnesses are dead, evidence obtained through torture will not be admissible, chain of custody of physical evidence, etc.. There is no way these vermin can be convicted unless they plead guilty, and Obama knows it. He is just kicking the can to a successor by figuring that he can drag things out in court for years.
Obama is going to really look bad when a Federal Judge drops all charges and releases these vermin. You see, there is a little pesky problem called "rules of evidence". Military and intelligence evidence is not going to qualify in a civillian court. Problems like cross examination of witnesses when evidence is classified or witnesses are dead, evidence obtained through torture will not be admissible, chain of custody of physical evidence, etc.. There is no way these vermin can be convicted unless they plead guilty, and Obama knows it. He is just kicking the can to a successor by figuring that he can drag things out in court for years.
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed has said he will plead guilty and wants to be sentenced to death so he can achieve martyrdom.
Who knows how this show will play out.. Where will they keep KSM..?? Down in China town at MCC or over in Red Hook… I was a guest in the MCC, I was there with "Killer in Clowntown" Joe Doherty.. May 1990.. for a freedom of speech violation, conspiracy to import a controlled substance. Not long after he was free in the amnesty.. His story is unbelievable, and the book is a fun read..
I got the treat this morning to hear Tony Blankley cryin about how bringing KSH to NY was to embarras the bush thugs… I don't know what to think…. Will they pull a "Ken Lay," where he dies just before sentencing and the body is "creamated" instantly..?? All jest aside, the show has the potential to an Eureca moment….. Don't forget, We the People still do not really know how 911 went down… The bush neocon cabal kept KSM and the rest in Cuba and the 911 commission was Not allowed to interview them… The 911 commission was not even allowed to interview the interrogators..!! The tapes of the interrogations were DESTROYED by the CIA, so all we have is the CIA's word..!!!!! that things were as they[the CIA] claimed them to be… Those of us who believe that 911 was an inside job have to be pleased that the military is NOT being trusted to handle the trial(s)… With the power to control ALL access and the power to torture as the bush conees had, any information that escapes from the prison is WHAT they the neo-conees desire to be heard.. and NOT what the defendants have to say…. Remember too that if some U.S. government agency ran 911 they probably did it THROUGH KSM… Without the threat of torture immediately after any mistep in what he says, he may
become OUR canary and blow the whole plan, minus the inevitable cut outs that is… Wasn't the very reason to hold them in Cuba so they were far from any court and lawyers and judges questions..?? Do the math.. KHM was waterboarded 183 times and the CIA destroyed 90+ recordings, so at least half of the time he must have said things that the CIA didn't ever want us [anyone] to hear…
This decision may pry the door open a little more than the bush cons would have wanted….. And what comes out will be anyone's guess…
What a bunch of crap. KSM is about as much "responsible" for 9/11 as Bruce Ivins was "responsible" for the subsequent "Anthrax attacks". The whole show is
laughably absurd BS.
They tortured this guy to the point of insanity; and, if I recall correctly, they even harassed/threatened/kidnapped some of his family members.
You don't pull off the most daring, most devastating terror attack of all time and then hide, choosing to let a panel of fatuous government stooges tell the
world you did it because you "hate our freedom" or some such hapless, self-serving drivel.
Let's face reality here: If 9/11 was a "legitimate" act of terror (and not a false-flag inside job like it was), the real terrorists would've made a "legitimate" statement and claim of responsibility…you wouldn't need to torture it out of anyone.
Our Masters would NEVER let this guy anywhere near a civilian courtroom, alive, unless they are controlling him somehow, e.g., with threats of more torture, threats against his family, drugs, etc.
Anyone paying attention would know by now that absolutely nothing that the U.S. government says or does, in matters involving "terrorism", can be taken at face value.