This is encouraging news in The Washington Post:
Obama advisers set to recommend military tribunals for alleged 9/11 plotters
Washington Post Staff Writers
Friday, March 5, 2010 President Obama‘s advisers are nearing a recommendation that Khalid Sheik Mohammed, the self-proclaimed mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, be prosecuted in a military tribunal, administration officials said, a step that would reverse Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr.’s plan to try him in civilian court in New York City.The president’s advisers feel increasingly hemmed in by bipartisan opposition to a federal trial in New York and demands, mainly from Republicans, that Mohammed and his accused co-conspirators remain under military jurisdiction, officials said. While Obama has favored trying some terrorism suspects in civilian courts as a symbol of U.S. commitment to the rule of law, critics have said military tribunals are the appropriate venue for those accused of attacking the United States….
Lindsey Graham certainly thinks so, and in matters of this sort, I generally tend to agree with him:
Graham on Washington Post Report on Detainee Policy
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) today made this statement on reports in today’s Washington Post that Obama Administration advisors are preparing to recommend to the President that Khalid Sheikh Mohammad (KSM), the self-proclaimed mastermind of the 9/11 attacks on America, and other 9/11 conspirators be prosecuted by military commission.
Graham, who strongly favors military commission trials for the 9/11 conspirators, said:
“If true, this would be welcome news by most Americans. The civilian trail of Khalid Sheikh Mohammad and the 9/11 conspirators in New York City would be a zoo. In addition, a civilian trial would cost hundreds of millions and would take the war on terror in the wrong direction.
“If the mastermind of 9/11 is not an enemy combatant at war with the United States and worthy of a military commission trial who would be? So if the Washington Post report turns out to be correct, I think it helps us in getting detainee policy back on track.
“I have always believed that closing Guantanamo Bay safely is in our national security interests. This is a view shared by former President Bush, former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, our military leaders and President Obama. To accomplish this goal we must have a comprehensive strategy which assures the American people our nation will be safe and create a legal system that is national-security centric.
“There is a place for our civilian courts in the War on Terror. However, we must recognize as a nation we are not dealing with common criminals, and the law of armed conflict is our central guide.”
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This continued trend on the part of the president’s national security team (and others who would be involved in such a decision) toward pragmatism is most reassuring.
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