It isn’t what anyone with a brain is saying now, but that chant may be coming to a talk radio show and demonstration near you in the future. It won’t just be Islamic terrorists or Berkeley leftists calling for Khalid Sheikh Mohammed’s release, it will be Americans of different stripes who believe in our justice system, and precisely why KSM shouldn’t be transferred to civilian courts under any circumstances.
Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, once admitted now "alleged" 9/11 mastermind.
The President and our nation’s top prosecutor have all but guaranteed conviction at trial of someone that allegedly, oh yeah, we have to add that now, plotted and killed 3,000 Americans. What happened to innocent until proven guilty Mr. Holder and Mr. Obama? KSM did not receive a Miranda warning and was admittedly water-boarded by the U.S Government, which is now tantamount to full-on torture thanks to Democrats and the press. KSM has also been held without formal charges for the past years. Not exactly the right to a speedy trial which is guaranteed to anyone who is in the U.S. civilian criminal court system. If this were to happen in another country we would cry foul. Rightly so.
A moral judge may see proceeding with the case under the above circumstances as too harmful for our system of justice. If they can water-board KSM and convict, they can water-board you or I. Argue all you want, but we have one civilian court system in America; the same rights apply to all before its eyes. We are giving KSM the same rights we have, and therefore whatever happens to him can happen to any American citizen. If that is not the case, will the left and the President admit that the U.S. Justice system has different tiers based on “who” one is?
The Obama administration has made a terrible bed that we may all have to lie in.
KSM wanted to plead guilty before a military tribunal if he was sure to be executed. We should have granted his request. I for one do not feel comfortable prosecuting anyone in civilian courts that has been water-boarded, held without charge for years at a time, and given no right to an attorney. Perhaps the Obama administration knows this; if so I can’t for the life of me figure out why they would proceed this way.
This can all be avoided of course if Mr. Obama changed course and treated KSM like the enemy combatant he is rather than an as a regular American citizen.
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John Romano is the publisher and editor of Yes, But However!, a musician, a former political correspondent for BBC Radio London, and a serial web entrepreneur. Follow him on twitter: twitter.com/yesbuthowever or John Romano on Google+John Romano article archive.
