In principle, trying Khalid Sheikh Mohammed in Manhattan may seem noble and just. In practice, I think it’s a great mistake.
When it comes to the American criminal justice system, our rules of discovery are different from, and much more open than, what some European nations expect and allow. KSM’s attorneys will be able to extract all sorts of intelligence, making public, information we have about AlQaeda that can only compromise our national security.
The trial of the 1993 WTC bombers gave UBL a ton of valuable information he could never have accessed apart from our court system.
Plus, the platform we will be giving KSM to spew his delusional vitriol will be almost incomparable. A Madison Avenue ad agency couldn’t do what our Attorney General now wants undertaken.
Added to this is the fact that a trial in lower Manhattan, just blocks from the new Freedom Tower, will be like a rare-earth magnet for every sympathetic nut-case who wants to make a supportive statement on behalf of Islamic terrorism. Bear in mind these protests are not usually accomplished with pen and ink, but with bullets and bombs.
Good luck to the NYPD if this monster takes the stand in their city. And may God bless the victims who will have to listen to the defenders of an admitted mass-murder, as the souls of those who perished on 9/11 are again subject to crushing and incendiary disrespect.
Principles are fine. People are more important.
BillKeane Perceptions 