The president and attorney general are dead wrong

Eight years after Sept. 11, our hearts remain heavy from the tremendous loss we suffered. Now, thanks to the irresponsible decision by President Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder, New Yorkers will suffer again. The mastermind of these attacks, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, and four other Guantanamo Bay detainees will stand trial for the attack not in a military tribunal, but in a federal civilian court in downtown Manhattan.

The decision to bring Mohammed from the Guantanamo Bay detention center to federal court, barely 1,000 yards from the World Trade Center site, will undoubtedly become the biggest debacle of the Obama presidency. This decision is irresponsible and lacks sound judgment on the part of the president and the attorney general.
Mohammed is a terrorist and must be tried in a military court. He was the financial backer of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and is said to have had a role in a laundry list of other terror plots over the past two decades. During military proceedings at Guantanamo, he said he wanted to plead guilty and be executed for his “noble victory.” To his Taliban brethren, he will be a martyr.

We all watch “Law & Order” and follow headline-grabbing criminal cases. We are not immune to what can happen in court. After the first World Trade Center bombing, six terrorists were tried and convicted, also in a Manhattan federal civilian court. Each was sentenced to 240 years in prison, but only after they had exposed our agents and compromised our intelligence. And eight years later, the nation was again attacked, by Mohammed and his gang of terrorists.

Mohammed will be afforded all the constitutional rights of any other accused person on trial, and that means revealing our agents and sources. More important, lawyers for the accused will be permitted to examine everything about the attacks and again expose federal agents, details of the treatment of detainees and the interrogation techniques used against Mohammed.

There is also the very real probability that admissions of guilt made by Mohammed will be thrown out because he was not advised of his constitutional right to a lawyer and that any statements he made could be used against him. Further, his confessions were reportedly obtained after he was waterboarded. These obstacles to a conviction would be eliminated if he were tried by a military court.

Many have argued that bringing the terrorists back to New York City will show them that the city they hoped to destroy is still vibrant and prospering. Baloney! Mayor Bloomberg and Police Commissioner Ray Kelly promise that they will keep New York safe, but we will always be a target. Bringing the terrorists here will only highlight our vulnerabilities.

U.S. Rep. Peter King has repeatedly criticized the decision. In an interview, he said a trial in New York “gives a forum for Mohammed and these thugs to denounce the United States and turn the entire proceeding into a fiasco. I have no idea what the president was doing other than attempting to satisfy his left-wing base, and maybe satisfy whatever international world opinion he is trying to get.”

What exactly is the Administration’s agenda in bringing terrorists back to New York? Does Obama really think Muslim militants are going to view us more favorably because we’re giving them an American court of law as opposed to a military trial?
Let’s also not forget Nidal Hasan’s terrorist attack at Fort Hood. Congressional Republicans continue to press House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to open a Congressional investigation. The Obama administration said there is no need for an investigation until the FBI has done its own review. A full FBI review could take up to six months!
Obama is now 0-2 in my book when it comes to protecting our country. The fact remains that we continue to be engaged in a war on terrorism, and the administration still wants to treat Fort Hood as a criminal act and not a real act of war. Hasan is a homegrown terrorist!

Lately it seems as if Obama is trying to appease everyone, from the left wing to the terrorists. Appeasement has never brought us safety or victory.