ÿþ<html> <head> <meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1"> <title>OnlineColumnist®.com: Putin Punishes Georgia</title> <meta name="generator" content="Adobe GoLive 4"> <style type="text/css"> .style3 { height: 68px; } .MsoNormal {} h1 {margin-bottom:.0001pt; page-break-after:avoid; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; font-weight:normal; text-decoration:underline; text-underline:single; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; } .style4 { font-size: large; font-weight: bold; font-family: Arial; } .style5 { font-size: x-large; font-weight: bold; } </style> </head> <body bgcolor="white" vlink="black"> <center> &nbsp;<table cool width="624" height="2719" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" gridx="16" showgridx gridy="16" showgridy> <tr height="79"> <td width="133" height="118" rowspan="2" valign="top" align="left" xpos="0"> <a href="aboutdiscobolos.html"><img height="110" width="62" src="images/discobolos.logo.transp.gif" border="0"></a></td> <td width="7" height="118" rowspan="2"></td> <td width="482" height="79" colspan="2" valign="top" align="left" xpos="140"><img height="75" width="450" src="images/banner.GIF"></td> <td width="1" height="118" rowspan="2"></td> <td width="1" height="79"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="79"></td> </tr> <tr height="39"> <td width="182" height="39"></td> <td width="300" height="39" valign="top" align="left" xpos="322"><a href="aboutdiscobolos.html"><img height="14" width="267" src="images/divisionofNEW.GIF" border="0"></a></td> <td width="1" height="39"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="39"></td> </tr> <tr> <td width="624" colspan="6" valign="top" align="left" xpos="0" class="style3"> <table border="0" width="100%" bgcolor="black" cellspacing="0"> <tr> <td> <table border="0" width="100%" bgcolor="#99ffcc" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="4"> <tr> <td align="center"> <div align="left"> <a href="index.html"><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular" size="2"><strong> HOME</strong></font></a><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular" size="2"><strong> &#8226; <a href="articlesindex.html">ARTICLES</a> &#8226; <a href="books.html">BOOKS</a> &#8226; <a href="teflon.html"> THE </a><a href="teflon.html">TEFLON</a><a href="teflon.html"> REPORT</a> &#8226; <a href="mailto:letters@onlinecolumnist.com"> REACTIONS</a> &#8226; <a href="aboutdiscobolos.html">ABOUT DISCOBOLOS</a></strong></font></div> </td> </tr> </table> </td> </tr> </table> </td> </tr> <tr height="2"> <td width="133" height="2"></td> <td width="489" height="2576" colspan="3" rowspan="2" align="left" xpos="133" content valign="top" csheight="2573"> <p class="style4">Terrorist Trials</p> <p><b><font face="Arial,Geneva,Helvetica">by John M. Curtis</font></b><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular"><b><a href="books.html"><br> </a></b></font><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular"><b> (310) 204-8700</b></font></p> <p><font size="2" face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular"><i>Copyright Feb. 4, 2010<br>All Rights Reserved. </i></font>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <span class="style5">W</span>hen U.S. Atty. Gen. Eric Holder announced Nov. 13, 2009 that he intended to try Gunatanamo Bay terror suspects in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, the U.S. government gyrated 180 degrees from the Bush administration.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Since winning the Nobel Peace Prize Oct. 9, 2009, President Barack Obama decided he would do things differently from his predecessor, closing terrorist detention facilities at Guantanamo Bay and trying terror suspects in civilian court.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Sending a loud message to international community, Barack decided to give terror suspects rights under the U.S. justice system, prompting applause from foreign governments.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Victims of Sept. 11  deserve the opportunity to see the alleged plotters of those attacks held accountable in court, an opportunity that has been too long delayed, said Holder, justifying his decision to open up old wounds at the expense of the U.S. treasury.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>Former President George W. Bush went to great pains to deny terror suspects of civilian rights under the U.S. Constitution and military rights under the Geneva Convention.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Bush administration officials, especially former Atty. Gen. Alberto Gonzales, while working as White House counsel, were very careful to define terror suspects as  enemy combatants or  battlefield detainees, specifically to deny them rights under the U.S. Constitution and Geneva Convention.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Obama s reversal of Bush terror policies goes to the other extreme of exposing the U.S. justice system at the expense of taxpayers and 9/11 victims.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Calling the decision to try terror suspects in civilian court a  significant step toward closing Guantanamo Bay, the Obama administration sold out American taxpayers at the expense of 2,872 Sept. 11 victims, crying out for a different kind of justice.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>Holder s right that the American people want justice for the perpetrators of Sept. 11 or other terrorist attacks against the U.S.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>He s dead wrong that the justice should be meted out in U.S. civilian courts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Removing Guantanamo Bay detainees for trial in lower Manhattan doesn t hasten closing Camp X-Ray.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> Objecting to Holder s knee-jerk decision, Republicans found his decision distasteful.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> Bringing these dangerous individuals onto U.S. soil compromises the safety of Americans, said Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), raising concerns but missing the point.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Few doubt the security concerns of incarcerating Guantanamo Bay terror suspects in U.S. prisons or detention facilities.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Trials should not go forward in federal court because the crimes took place in the U.S. military venue.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Because detainees were obtained in the  War on Terror, the U.S. military should mete out the justice.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>U.S. federal prison system is perfectly capable of handling the most violent criminals.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>It had no problem handling Oklahoma City bomber domestic terrorist Timothy McVeigh.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Foreign terrorists plucked from the battlefield should be handled by the military in terms of incarceration and prosecution.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Clogging up the federal courts with high profile terrorist trials wastes taxpayer money and creates the kind of media circus inviting a potential violent spectacle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>If would-be terrorists are caught by civilian law enforcement then it only makes sense to prosecute them in civilian courts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> I would not have authorized the bringing of these prosecutions unless I thought that the outcome . . . would ultimately successful, said Holder, offering the most feeble excuse for trying terrorists in civilian courts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Outcomes should have nothing to do with the venue for prosecution.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp;</span>Obama s pledge to close Guantanamo Bay stemmed from its PR damage to the U.S. government for warehousing terrorists without any civilian or military rights.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Holder s decision to stage show-trials of Sept. 11 terrorists shows tone deafness to domestic and foreign public relations.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Staging show- trials can only result in more PR damage to the U.S. government.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Atty. Gen. Holder would spend his time more wisely working with the administration to decide whether his predecessor, former Atty. Gen. Alberto Gonzales, was correct stripping Guanatanamo Bay detainees of both civilian and military rights.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Before jumping into federal court, Holder must determine whether Guantanamo Bay detainees are civilians or prisoners of war.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>If he determines the latter, then they should be prosecuted under the appropriate rules of armed conflict in military tribunals.<![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>After loud screaming from New York Major Michael Bloomberg, Holder decided to renege on prosecuting Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed in lower Mahahattan federal court.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> Before Holder jumps to another federal court, he must determine, once-and-for-all, whether Guanatanamo Bay detainees are civilians or prisoners of war.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> I have great respect for our civilian legal system, said Sen. Lindsay Graham (R-S.C.), a former military prosecutor.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>  However, I believe that the 9/11 co-conspirators should be tried under the law of armed conflict in a military tribunal setting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>We are at war with al-Qaeda, and civilian courts have never been used in the past try war criminals, making the case that Guantanamo detainees are, in fact, prisoners of war.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>White House officials must decide the status of Guantanamo Bay prisoners before starting prosecutions.</p> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <p class="MsoNormal"> <b>John M. Curtis</b> writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>He s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author <i>of <a href="books.html">Dodging The Bullet</a></i> and <i><a href="books.html">Operation Charisma</a></i>.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> &nbsp;</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> &nbsp;</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> &nbsp;</p> </td> <td width="1" height="2576" rowspan="2"></td> <td width="1" height="2"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="2"></td> </tr> <tr height="2574"> <td width="133" height="2574" valign="top" align="left" xpos="0"><img height="172" width="111" src="images/johninframe3.jpg"></td> <td width="1" height="2574"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="2574"></td> </tr> <tr height="1" cntrlrow> <td width="133" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="133" height="1"></td> <td width="7" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="7" height="1"></td> <td width="182" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="182" height="1"></td> <td width="300" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="300" height="1"></td> <td width="1" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="1"></td> <td width="1" height="1"></td> </tr> </table> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="2" width="597"> <tr> <td><font size="1" face="Arial,Geneva,Helvetica"> <hr noshade size="1"> </font><a href="index.html"><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular" size="2"><strong> Homecobolos> <p><font size="2" face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular">©1999-2005 <a href="aboutdiscobolos.html"> Discobolos Consulting Services, Inc.</a><br> (310) 204-8300<br> All Rights Reserved. </font></td> </tr> </table> </center> </body> </html>