Exhibit C(riminal Courts)?

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

I know that there is a thirst for revenge in the streets of New York City after 9/11. The temptation is there for each New Yorker to personally address the men responsible for the most horrific act of terrorism ever seen on American soil. Yet, even with this sting of extremist-led terrorism still painfully apparent (including after the recent tragedy at Ft. Hood in Texas), it is clear that the planning and execution of the events of that sorrow-filled day in 2001 was not a random domestic act but was, instead, a carefully-plotted attack on the United States of America with the clear intent to wreak havoc on the American way of life.

So, to place the march to justice for the plotters of 9/11 - including mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed - in the hands of the criminal courts of New York City despite the clear war-like intentions of the conspirators is a move that follows a dangerous trend of ignoring the global vibes around us by the Obama Administration.

In the global community, President Obama attempts to bring a level of connectivity with the rest of our allies and global neighbors through good will gestures and the like. I know the expression, "...when in Rome, do as the Romans do...", and this seems to apply to Mr. Obama's stance on many things. However, in the case of these terrorists and the New York courts, another statement seems to more aptly apply to President Obama and Attorney General Holder:

Gentlemen, when at war, do as warriors do.

And yes, it has been pretty clear through the evidence and unfolding of the last 8 years that we are at war with an enemy that has continued to plot terroristic acts on American soil. As a result, we are engaged in a 2-country war effort that is designed to keep the battles on foreign soil away from the American homeland. Yet, in regards to our march to justice, we choose a legalistic approach that is akin to dealing with 21st century mobsters.

With this same logic in place, the Nuremberg Trials for Nazi leadership would have been seen as a political overreach. After all, Jeffery Dahmer mutilated and horrifically killed many, albeit on a smaller scale that that of the Nazis. Why not just present the leaders of Nazi Germany for a jury of their peers?

Exactly - because the Nazi plotted and led a war effort that killed innocents, just as the conspirators of September 11 had done. Anything other than a war tribune minimizes the war actions against the innocents that lost their lives.

In a round of minimalism and disrespect of those that paid the ultimate price, the Obama Administration is missing the mark in so many ways by sending this matter to our criminal court system. In addition to providing valuable legal avenues to non-citizens and enemies of the state in their attempts to beat the charges, it also affords our combatants access to the information granted to all criminals facing murder changes - namely, lists of information, witnesses, and techniques used to assemble the evidence against them in the trial process. This occurrence is bad move that plays out like a bad movie, one destined to have a worse sequel.

Remember World Trade Center 1.0?

The Clinton Administration, reeling after the attempted tumbling of the World Trade Center in February 1993 by Ramzi Yousef and others, brought the terrorists behind this action to justice. Yousef today sits in a maximum security prison in the continental United States despite his pride in committing this heinous act and in being "...a terrorist, and...proud of it as long as it is against the US government..." (Does this sound familiar, Obamicans?) Despite clearly spelling out his intent in striking against America (his letter noted reasoning behind the bombing as "...(declaring) our responsibility for the explosion...in response to the American political, economical, and military support of Israel..."), Yousef basically received the same treatment a gang banger might should he had taken the lives of 6 innocents that cold February day.

Sadly, WTC 1.0, with its labeling as a criminal matter and subsequent treatment by the Clinton Administration, served as a teaching mechanism that bore its hideous head as WTC 2.0 on September 11, 2001.

Yet, we seem to be willing to take that same chance again for the sake of global political correctness and our failure to learn from our painful past. It looks as though President Obama, Attorney General Holder, and the rest are willing to follow the footsteps of the Clinton Adminstration and hope that they don't step into a bigger mess of war and terrorism than we are already in.

Of course, this overlooks the mess of confusion that it creates, even as it did during WTC 1.0 process that led to WTC 2.0.

This is not doing what warriors do, Mr. President and Mr. Attorney General. Taking this case through the criminal courts weakens our morale to address the evils facing us on the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan. It diminishes our position on worldwide extremism against us and our allies. It challenges the notion that this is a cause against the American way of life overall and instead views it through the prism of domestic acts, not international directives.

If the Obama Administration is willing to expose pertinent details to our enemies as we engage them in the march of justice, how can we expect to win a war against an enemy that has no borders, lands, or reliable demographics or characteristics? If the Obama Administration is willing to treat the most detestable war act on American soil in our history as a criminal act that can be handled outside of a military hearing, how can we fully expect the nation to be united in a war effort that we must win in order to save future American lives? If the Obama Administration is willing to risk failure in the march to justice for these terrorists on the same American legal system that has allowed multiple murders to walk free (OJ?), that has forced repeated men to serve decades in prison on crimes they did not commit (until DNA evidence years later), and that has a knack for ignoring facts for technicalities, how can the nation have confidence that those plotting murder and mayhem against the citizens of the United States will fear any true retribution should their deeds be found out by an Obama-led country?

The march to justice in New York will highlight just how dastardly these men of terror were in their schemes to murder innocent victims in 2001, but the decision by the Obama Administration to allow our terroristic enemies to take the easier path to justice has a tinge to it that seems more criminally faulty in nature.