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Politics : View from the Center and Left -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Paul Smith who wrote (136391)	4/11/2010 3:12:44 PM
From: Cogito	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 541851

>>Full disclosure - while I knew that GWB had used civilian courts for some cases, I do not know the exact differences between the new Obama policies and the GWB policies. I suspect that significant differences exist since KSM would not have received a civilian trial in NYC under Bush. In the end, I guess he will not under Obama either after a reversal is completed. In my view, prisoners that are deemed to be "war criminals" should be tried in military commissions created by Congress for that specific purpose. War criminals, particularly non-citizens like KSM or the underwear bomber, are not entitled to civilian trials under our Constitution or the laws of war.<< I don't think it matters much either way. The first time the World Trade Center was attacked by terrorists, in 1993, four of the people responsible were captured in the United States, put on trial in civilian courts in New York City, and convicted. Ramzi Yousef, the mastermind of the attacks, was arrested in Pakistan in 1995, extradited to the US, then tried and convicted (along with two co-conspirators) in Federal Court in New York City. There were no great outcries of objection at the time and there's no evidence to suggest that the process in any way compromised the safety of Americans. It establishes a legal precedent, though an argument could be made that the precedent should apply only to persons accused of attacks that have been carried out on American soil. If you're going to argue that foreign citizens accused of terrorist acts or conspiracy aren't entitled to the due process of civilian trials, then I don't see how giving them military trials makes much difference. There is due process involved in either case.