In an impassioned speech, the likes of which is rarely seen in Congress, Democratic Congressman Anthony Weiner of New York tore into Congressman Peter King (R. NY) and the Republican House minority for blocking the passage of a bill providing relief to first responders still suffering from the aftermath of their rescue efforts on 9/11.
The GOP insisted upon adding amendments to the bill unrelated to its focus. To get around this partisan politicking, the bill was presented to the House floor using a procedure requiring a 2/3 majority to block amendments. Republicans objected and this bill to aid those who rescued thousands on 9/11 went down to defeat.
Congressman Weiner’s impassioned plea is a brilliant snapshot of our Congress at work.
US Attorney-General Eric Holder’s decision to prosecute Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and 5 others held at Guantanamo charged in the 9/11 attacks (collectively referred to here as “KSM”) in United States federal court as criminal defendants grants them the full panoply of rights granted to all criminal defendants in US federal trials.
The decision to try KSM in federal court by US attorneys rather than under military law by a military war crimes tribunal automatically relegates them to the status of criminal. KSM will be treated no less fairly under American justice than a bank robber, white collar inside trader, kidnapper or murderer. A federal criminal trial open to the public and the media puts our justice system on display around the world, a statement by the Obama administration that America delivers on its promise of transparent justice for all. The possibility of American justice allowing KSM to be acquitted and released was deemed impossible by administration spokesmen. [Exactly how that will go poses questions suited to a separate article.]
There are SO many things wrong with this picture.
Assurances from our government that KSM will be convicted and executed make a trial nothing more than a show trial with the outcome predetermined. The Soviet Union did show trials; Iran still does. Ah, you say, what about the jury? After all, the Constitution mandates that the jury shall be of KSM’s peers. Well, not so much. KSM has no peers in the Manhattan jury pool or any other jury pool outside of Afghanistan, Iraq or Iran. Will he have at least an impartial jury willing to listen to the evidence before reaching a verdict? A jury drawn from the Manhattan jury pool in a courtroom blocks from Ground Zero already told by the government that KSM will be found guilty and die? No, I don’t think so. Impartial jurors will be impossible to find. Maybe a jury which won’t jump out of the jury box to strangle KSM, but not an impartial one.
Recent news is that KSM will plead not guilty and exercise his right to act as his own attorney. Ah – now there’s a scene we’d like to broadcast to the world: KSM blathering Jihadist nonsense with virtual impunity under the protection of the American justice system in a federal courtroom blocks from the destroyed WorldTradeCenter site. But as a criminal defendant in the US criminal justice system, KSM is entitled to act as his own attorney and the international media have the right to report it.
The blathering Jihadist scenario plays right into the hands of KSM. Having consistently expressed his wish to die and become a martyr for the cause, he gets a bonus from the Obama administration – the opportunity to blather his Jihadist nonsense to the world from the protected forum of a federal court.
The public debate on whether the US mainland has prisons secure enough to hold KSM is inane. Of course it does. Top flight US maximum security prisons are no less and probably more secure than Gitmo. The more pertinent question is whether there is a top flight US maximum security prison (penitentiary) within daily travel distance from downtown Manhattan. There isn’t. So, where will KSM be locked up during trial? Obviously in a less than maximum security facility. And how will he be moved from a detention center to court? By bus and police motorcade. I’d imagine that highways will be closed, air cover will be provided, snipers on rooftops, etc. Great. Just what New York City (or any city) needs – a daily security risk inviting terrorists from around the world to take their best shot against our best.
While it is difficult to imagine much that would make New York City a greater target for terrorism, the KSM trial would succeed in doing just that. Any venue where KSM is tried in federal court automatically becomes a target. The effort by local law enforcement, i.e., the NYPD, state and federal law enforcement to keep the court and public safe will be nothing short of monumental. Why should any local or state government bear the expense of trying KSM? While there is a certain element of pride, satisfaction and revenge by trying them in New York City where their war crimes were committed, those are not compelling enough to take on the attendant issues and risks such a trial would create. I say this despite being a native New Yorker and knowing our incredible resolve and resilience.
Fundamental to this issue is whether KSM is a run of the mill criminal defendant or a war criminal. KSM proudly admits committing terrorist acts killing thousands. We are fighting a global war on terror. Therefore, KSM is a war criminal – not your kidnapper/bank robber common type of criminal. It follows logically that a war criminal should be tried by a military war crimes tribunal as were war criminals of World War II and the genocidal ethnic purification war in Kosovo. Let such a military war crimes tribunal convene in the security of a high max prison with federally funded ground and air military protection during the trial.
KSM is a war criminal properly tried by a military war crimes tribunal. To label and try him as anything else denies the global war on terrorism.
In the far less crowded political media landscape of 1973 two young investigative reporters from the Washington Post propelled the Watergate scandal into the national headlines. Congress and particularly Senator Sam Ervin’s Watergate investigation committee picked up the gauntlet and brought down a president, top advisors and cabinet members.
Since the turn of the millennium with the rise of cable news and seemingly infinite growth and influence of the Internet, only Representative Dennis Kucinich has had the balls to take a stand by introducing articles of impeachment against Bush and Cheney in the House of Representatives. Where are the media? They’ll blast an open mic gaffe while bleeping out “balls”. Yet when it certainly looks like something’s rotten in the executive branch there’s just a lot of hand wringing, breast beating and whining. And that’s from the liberal media.
In these days of hot stories having a day, a few days or, in the case of celebrity news, a week or more, what happened to Scott McClellan’s tell-all book? Are there not at least a few worthy kernels in McClellan’s book which might have piqued the interest of a reporter or prosecutor? With the exception of Mr. McClellan, does this administration have its people in such fear that not one of them can be a Deep-Throat for what history may find as one of the most corrupt and misguided presidencies in US history?
Yes, these comments lack specificity. I’m no more in the know than any citizen, hence the lack of specificity. Am I alone in thinking that there’s been a bunch of shit going on behind the scenes of the Bush administration? I know I’m not. Are there no brighter minds than mine in the media who can blow the whistle?
Yes. His name is Keith Olbermann. Please watch and listen.
Thoughts
from a native New Yorker recently transplanted to New Jersey
[*
Written shortly after 9/11/01. Opinions expressed about GW Bush are couched in
the tragedy of the time.]
It is
still difficult to comprehend the enormity of the devastation. Only when my
mind sort of "expands" am I able to fathom what happened on Tuesday -
those flashes shake me to my very soul. I truly regret not living in the city
at this time, feeling guilty being sheltered here across the river. I
understand the effort and volunteerism pouring into Manhattan from across the
country and around the world.
It is
neither an overstatement nor a knee-jerk reaction to the immediacy of the
horror to accept that the world has changed forever. We are witnesses to and
participants in a defining event in world history - likely the defining event
that will shape the world for the foreseeable future.
Do we
all feel personally assaulted and violated? Are we all really so deeply
patriotic to feel that such an attack on a tiny part of the US is a personal
violation of each and every citizen of the world? I think so.
I am
too frightened to cry or get choked up by flashes of Tuesday's horror.
Listening to interviews with those desperately searching for lost loved ones is
far too painful. What has moved me to tears several times has been the
patriotic outpouring across the country and the world. Just now, before sitting
down at my computer, I watched for the umpteenth time President Bush's
bullhorned remarks to the rescue workers. This time, seeing the faces of the
workers shouting "USA" brought tears to my eyes.
Thursday
night, ABC did 2 pieces to wrap up one of its hours. You could see that Peter
Jennings was near tears after each one. The first was a brief piece on Queen
Elizabeth's Coldstream Guards being "ordered" by the Queen to play
the "Star Spangled Banner" in front of Buckingham Palace. A tearful
crowd stood in silence as the British band played our national anthem. The
piece brought tears to my eyes. Following that was a report on the prevalent
display of American flags. While a relatively mundane report, it evoked in me a
deep sense of patriotism and again tears flowed.
This
is the latest example of how a US president rises to the occasion - how the
office itself is far bigger than its individual occupant. Despite Bush having
been portrayed for so long as no more than a doofus, I am impressed with his
performance in this crisis. There is a comforting feeling - shared by him with
the rescue workers - to see our president take control and speak for the
nation. It's the office that has this effect - not so much the man.
It is
chilling to see and hear fighter planes patrolling the skies and warships
stationed off our coastline. It is chilling to hear reports that more
terrorists bent on further attacks are likely still in the country. It is
chilling to learn that one of the hijackers lived in my own town here in New
Jersey. It is chilling to be in a war zone. And it is likely that this is our
country's immediate future. Will anyone really feel safe anymore? In our
history, war and its devastation have always been "over there." Not
any more. It is time for America to join the rest of the world in that respect.
Imagine what it must have been like for Great Britain during WWII. Imagine what
it was like for Great Britain under constant attack by IRA terrorists. Imagine
what it is like for Israel – existing for 53 years under the daily threat of
war, death and terror.
We have,
in so many respects, been a sheltered nation - protected by our natural
borders. Not since the War of 1812 have foreign enemy forces wreaked
destruction in our country. Since then there has been a sense of invulnerable
complacency - allowing us to enjoy freedoms and convenience not possible in
other countries. As the world became smaller it was just a matter of time
before the US would join the rest of the world in facing destruction and
threats of destruction at home from terrorists and fanatics abroad. It was just
a matter of time until the US had its own personal interests at heart when
discussing and acting on the modern day version of international war -
terrorism. How will that threat be deterred or, hopefully, eradicated now that
the world's only superpower has taken up the challenge, burden and duty of
"saving the world" from its latest threat of extinction? Only
leadership, bipartisan Congressional support and unwavering support from a
world shocked to its foundations will answer that question.
An
immediate military response of some sort will likely come - even if only to
show the world that we mean business and to give people a feeling of short-term
satisfaction. It is necessary to take that first decisive military action to
set a precedent for future actions by the US and its allies around the world.
I am
overwhelmed by the outpouring of compassion and support from around the world.
If one were to see just these reports, the magnitude of what happened would be
clear. It is both ironic and magnificent to see the effect of an event in New
York City evoking such an international outpouring of emotion. Yes, of course
the attack was on America, but it was those too-often-maligned New Yorkers
whose courage, bravery and devastation have captured the attention of the
world. New Yorkers have shown the world how magnificent we really are; the
world has shown New Yorkers how much it really does care about them, America
and humanity.
Wednesday
morning I proudly draped a 6 foot long American flag over the railing of my
terrace. It was the only flag displayed in our building. Yesterday a few more
appeared. Standing on my flag draped terrace, I look out over the Hudson down
toward the financial district. Where the twin towers once anchored the city
skyline, I see only smoke - smoke portending a different world for all of us.
