The Obama administration, in deciding to try alleged Sept. 11 conspirators in a New York courtroom, has said it is setting its sights on convictions, but some critics say a civilian trial -- instead of a military tribunal -- could end up targeting the Bush administration and its anti-terror policies.
One of those five defendants, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, has been at the center of the debate over those Bush-era polices, in particular the harsh interrogation techniques used on Mohammed and others in an effort to obtain information on Al Qaeda and any additional attacks.
"The government is going to try to put Khalid Sheik Mohammed on trial. Defense lawyers will try and put the government on trial," former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani told Fox News.
The Justice Department says in a 2005 memo that CIA interrogators subjected Mohammed 183 times to waterboarding, a near-drowning technique described by Obama officials as illegal torture. But others disagree with Obama, most notably former Vice President Dick Cheney, who argues that the techniques used have kept the country safe from another attack.
Obama's attorney general, Eric Holder, announced in the summer that he would investigate whether CIA officers should be prosecuted for their interrogations, setting off intense debate over the prospect of prosecuting officials from the previous administration.
But on Friday, in announcing a civilian trial for Mohammed and four other detainees, Holder dismissed questions about whether politics was a factor in the decision.
"My job as attorney general is to look at the law, apply the facts to the law and ultimately do what I think is in the best interests of this country and our system of justice. Those are my guides," he said. "To the extent that there are political consequences, well, you know, I'll just have to take my lumps, to the extent that those are set in my way." - FOX News Story
It seems to me that the Obama Administration has made every move possible to make this a trial of the Bush Administration. Obama has said to keep politics out of it, but it seems that his decisions are either a strategic move to slam the Bush Administration or Just Plain Stupid on his part.
My thoughts are that this is going to be a huge mistake on the part of Obama and the Democrats.
First Obama Declassified information on "enhanced interrogation" techniques used to gain information from the Terror Suspects. Claiming that those techniques were illegal and that they would investigate those who did them. Now Obama has decided to try the Terror Suspects in Civilian Court on American Soil. This gives the Defense the opportunity to turn this whole thing into a trial on the "enhanced interrogation" instead of the acts of the suspected terrorist.
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