Updated 10:30 a.m.
Attorney General Eric Holder Jr. this morning defended his decision to prosecute the alleged mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks and four other suspected terrorists in federal court.
"This was a tough call, and reasonable people can disagree with my conclusion that these individuals should be tried in federal court rather than a military commission," Holder said in remarks delivered before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Holder said he had no preconceived views as to the merits of either venue.
Holder said he’s confident the presiding judge will maintain decorum during hearings, including the prosecution of the alleged Sept. 11 mastermind, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who proclaimed during a military tribunal that he wants to become a martyr. Critics of Holder's decision to prosecute Mohammed in federal court fear the venue will create a spectacle and give Mohammed a public platform to rant.
“And if KSM makes the same statements he made in his military commission proceedings, I have every confidence the nation and world will see him for the coward he is,” Holder said. “I’m not scared of what KSM will have to say at trial.”
Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Alabama) in his remarks said the Justice Department has reverted to a pre-Sept. 11 mentality. He called Main Justice’s decision to prosecute alleged terrorists in federal district court dangerous, misguided and unnecessary. Holder rejected the criticism in his remarks, saying that federal district courts have prosecuted suspected terrorists for years.
“Prosecuting the 9/11 defendants in federal court does not represent some larger judgment about whether or not we are at war,” Holder said. “We are at war, and we will use every instrument of national power – civilian, military, law enforcement, intelligence, diplomatic and others – to win. We need not cower in the face of this enemy. Our institutions are strong, our infrastructure is study, our resolve is firm, and our people are ready.”
Critics of the federal court forum decision are concerned about what happens in the event one or more the suspected terrorists are found not guilty. "Failure is not an option. Theses are cases that have to be won," Holder declared today at the committee hearing.
The decision by Attorney General Eric Holder Jr. to try these men in federal court is the correct thing to do because the court case "criminalizes" the accused rather than cloaking them with the political status that would be given by a military commission. In response to 9-11, the Bush Administration created many dilemmas by using words such as "war" and "attack." These words are associated with sovereign entities, or groups attempting to achieve sovereignty or legitimacy as an organization. However, giving political status to individuals engaging in terrorist activities is exactly what the groups want and the opposite of what is needed as a response by real sovereigns. We must delegitimize what these dangerous people do by labeling their acts as criminal and responding to them as we would any person accused of mass murder or other crimes: investigation, arrest, evidentiary trial before a jury, verdict, and result (penitentiary or freedom). Khalid Sheikh Mohammed is simply an alleged (remember, innocent until proven guilty) mastermind of a mass murder and NOTHING more.
Posted by: Pamela S. Evers | November 18, 2009 at 07:22 PM