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November 19, 2010
Obama and Holder Remain Committed To Trying Terrorists In Civilian Courts
U.S. to go ahead with terrorism trials
The acquittal of an embassy bombings suspect on almost all charges shouldn't prompt an end to trying cases in civilian courts, officials say.
The Obama administration remains committed to trying more terrorism suspects in civilian court even though a federal jury acquitted a Tanzanian of all but one charge in the 1998 U.S. embassy bombings, senior Justice Department officials said Thursday.
Alleged Al Qaeda accomplice Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani, the first Guantanamo Bay prisoner to be tried in civilian court, was convicted Wednesday of one count of conspiracy to damage or destroy U.S. property but cleared of 284 counts of murder and attempted murder.
As Republican lawmakers used the New York verdict to attack the concept of civilian trials, Justice Department spokesman Matthew Miller said, “We’re going to continue to review the cases on their merits and decide which forum is the most appropriate.” Justice and Defense department officials use a detailed protocol to determine who will be tried and where, he added.
Miller said announcements are pending on where to try nearly four dozen other terrorism suspects — in U.S. courts or before military commissions at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. He declined to say who might be tried next in civilian court. “Every day we’re continuing to work on it,” he said.
Conservatives castigated the administration for its position.
"Wrong again on terror trials," said Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell. The verdict, he said, "is all the proof we need that the administration's approach to prosecuting terrorists has been deeply misguided and indeed potentially harmful as a matter of national security."
"This trial came dangerously close to failure despite Atty. Gen. [Eric J.] Holder's assurance that 'failure is not an option,' '' said Sen. Jon Kyl of Arizona, the No. 2 Republican in the Senate. "I hope that the administration heard this wake-up call and will return to the policy of trying these kinds of terrorists in military commissions."
Democrats defended the Obama administration.
"This trial shows our legal system works," said Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.), chairman of the House subcommittee on the Constitution. He added that the verdict calls for continued use of "our criminal justice system to try and convict terrorists."
Liberal critics say the fault lies with government-approved torture of suspects — thus making some evidence inadmissible — not with the federal courts.
"If anyone is unsatisfied with Ghailani's acquittal on [all but one of the] counts, they should blame the CIA agents who tortured him," the Center for Constitutional Rights in New York said in a statement.
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Wild Thing's comment........
Obama the friend of terroriosts such as William Ayers. And Traitor Holder has defended terrorists his whole life including now.
They forget that all the other terrorists are watching us, and see this kind of thing happening. It is like a green light to them.
Posted by Wild Thing at November 19, 2010 04:45 AM
Comments
Holder needs to be immediately removed.
Posted by: jan at November 19, 2010 08:55 AM
Jan, I agree.
Posted by: Wild Thing at November 20, 2010 12:28 AM
