Mastermind of 911 to Remain in Detention without Trial

Posted by Tina

First you say you do, and then you don’t, and then you say you will, and then you won’t; you’re undecided now, so what are you gonna do?

Obama administration officials, certain members of Congress, and Eric Holder of the Justice Department have made it clear that decisions about the KSM trial are dependent on political breezes rather than the laws of war or basic values such as right and wrong. Muddled thinking and political posturing have conjoined to make a mockery of the international system of justice that covers enemy combatants. Read it and smirk, weep, or defend depending on your mood:

“Opposition to U.S. trial likely to keep mastermind of 9/11 attacks in detention,” by Peter Finn and Anne E. Kornblut – Washington Post Staff Writers

Khalid Sheik Mohammed, the self-proclaimed mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, will probably remain in military detention without trial for the foreseeable future, according to Obama administration officials.

The administration has concluded that it cannot put Mohammed on trial in federal court because of the opposition of lawmakers in Congress and in New York. There is also little internal support for resurrecting a military prosecution at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The latter option would alienate liberal supporters.

The administration asserts that it can hold Mohammed and other al-Qaeda operatives under the laws of war, a principle that has been upheld by the courts when Guantanamo Bay detainees have challenged their detention.

The White House has made it clear that President Obama will ultimately make the decision, and a federal prosecution of Mohammed and four alleged co-conspirators has not been ruled out, senior officials said. Still, they acknowledge that a trial is unlikely to happen before the next presidential election and, even then, would require a different political environment.

Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. said this week that a decision on a trial for Mohammed was close. Other administration officials said that his remark was simply a stock response to a frequently asked question and that it didn’t signal that any announcement was imminent.

How I miss the clarity of purpose, the basic core values, and the adherence to the laws of war that underpinned decision making in the Bush administration.