Barack Obama

9/11, al Qaeda, Barack Obama, detainees, Flight 253, Gitmo, Guantanamo, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Moussaoui, September 11, Thomson, Yemen

News and Views 1/05/10: 9/11 trials, Moussaoui, Gitmo, Thomson prison, NWA Fight 253, Yemen

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Moussaoui Conviction Upheld; In the next case … the defendants will be smart enough not to plead guilty

The Fourth Circuit also reminds us that the trial judge initially struck the death penalty from the case because the government refused to give Moussaoui access to the al Qaeda prisoner witnesses. The Fourth Circuit reversed the judge at the time, but on the condition that it would be open to revisiting that conclusion if the government failed to provide Moussaoui with all the classified exculpatory information to which he was entitled. At that critical moment, Moussaoui decided to plead guilty. That is, we never found out what would have happened if Moussaoui had insisted on a trial at which he’d have access to all these witnesses and other national-defense information. The guilty-plea is deemed to have waived any claim by Moussaoui that he was denied the information to which he was entitled.
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In the next case — like, say, KSM’s civilian trial — the defendants will be smart enough not to plead guilty. — They will insist on getting every piece of intelligence they’re entitled to. And the prosecutors will look at this ruling on Moussaoui’s appeal and realize they’d better give it to them or risk having the case thrown out. That’s what the law-enforcement approach buys you.

Thomson media alert for Wednesday

Editor — Watch Fox & Friends at 6:15 am Eastern time, Wednesday, January 6 for a segment on Thomson prison becoming Gitmo North. If you miss it, both Fox News and KeepAmericaSafe.com will have the video up soon afterward.

Taking Chances on Yemen

Given the ostensible ties between former Gitmo detainees and previous attacks and plots against the embassies in Yemen, it is natural to ask: What role are former Gitmo detainees playing in the current threats?

Moreover, both of these examples highlight the mistakes made during the Bush administration with respect to detainee transfers. Let us remember that the Bush administration itself wanted to close Gitmo and in an effort to do so agreed to a large number of suspect transfer decisions.

Yet, the Obama administration is apparently determined to make more suspect transfer decisions. Just this morning, John Brennan, the assistant to the president for homeland security and counter-terrorism, told CNN that the Obama administration is still committed to transferring Yemeni detainees to the cesspool that is Yemen. In December, for example, the Obama administration transferred Ayman Batarfi from Gitmo to Yemen. Batarfi is a known al Qaeda doctor who attended to wounded jihadists during the battle of Tora Bora, met with bin Laden at Tora Bora, and has admitted ties to al Qaeda’s anthrax program. Despite all of this and more, Batarfi, who has been a committed jihadist for decades, was deemed one of the most transfer-worthy detainees by the Obama administration.

Obama owes New York: Feds must pay every security penny for foolish terror trial

Obama and Holder have said they are out to show that the U.S. can grant full legal rights to worst-of-the-worst terrorists in civilian courts without jeopardizing the war on terror or public safety. Can they really do that? No way. No how.

The Police Department’s $200 million-a-year plan represents nothing so much as an effort to buy down an extremely high risk with heroic measures. But no amount of money will purchase freedom from all threat when danger is so substantial.

Stunningly, Holder did not consult, or forewarn, Police Commissioner Ray Kelly before ordering that Mohammed should be shipped to lower Manhattan. Since no formal action has yet been taken, Obama still has the chance to countermand the order. Failing such a step, the President must pay the full freight.

A new (or old?) halt to Gitmo-Yemen transfers (What halt?)

It’s also curious that the fact that no more detainees would be sent to Yemen was being touted to reporters as a finding or result of the post-Christmas bombing intelligence review, if indeed such repatriations were halted “quietly several weeks ago.”

On the other hand, in the pre-Christmas bombing environment, being candid about a decision not to send more prisoners to Yemen, would have 1) been offensive to the Yemeni government and 2) underscored the instability of the country to which we just sent six former Gitmo prisoners. So the earlier reticence was understandable even if the spin seems a bit whiplash inducing in retrospect.

UPDATE: On Sunday’s television talk shows, White House counterterrorism and homeland security adviser John Brennan said there will be future releases to Yemen, and he denied that the process had been halted, but he did not mention any plans to move any inmates there in the immediate future.

The career path from Gitmo to Yemen gets bigger

How effective has the Yemeni rehab program for Gitmo detainees been? The Times of London reports that it has done almost no good at all. At least a dozen repatriated Yemenis have rejoined al-Qaeda while the Obama administration plans to release almost a hundred more in the country … Keep in mind that these numbers reflect those released early from Gitmo. Those detainees were considered to be a lower risk than those remaining in the center. If the recidivism among the lower-risk detainees has been this bad, it means that either the ones we release now will be so hard-core that we can expect most or all of them to return to AQ or our screening process for release in the Bush administration was decidedly poor — or both.

al Qaeda, Barack Obama, Gitmo, Guantanamo, Thomson

Showdown in Sterling on 12/22: rally against the jailhouse jihad moving north to Thomson

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Beginning at noon Tuesday, December 22, thousands of concerned citizens will rally in Sterling, Illinois against turning the Thomson Correctional Center into Gitmo North. Illinois law mandates a public hearing so inside Sterling High School lawmakers will debate whether to recommend to Governor Pat Quinn that he sell the TCC to the federal government. They have good reason to be concerned.

It is possible that six months from now the only ones safer in America than an indicted former Guantanamo detainee will be those amusing themselves in Thomson by attacking the Military Police.

“Our young military men and women routinely endure the vilest invective imaginable, including death threats that spill over to guards’ families. All soldiers and sailors working “inside the wire” have blacked out their name tags so that the detainees will not learn their identities. Before that step was taken the terrorists were threatening to tell their al-Qaeda pals still at large who the guards were. “We will look you up on the Internet,” the prisoners said. “We will find you and slaughter you and your family in your homes at night. We will cut your throats like sheep. We will drink the blood of the infidel.”

“That is bad enough, but the terrorist prisoners throw more than words at the guards. On a daily basis, American soldiers carrying out their duties within the maximum-security camp are barraged with feces, urine, semen, and spit hurled by the detainees. Secretly fashioned weapons intended for use in attacking guards or fellow detainees are confiscated regularly. When food or other items are passed through the “bean hole,” an opening approximately 4 inches by 24 inches in the cell doors, the detainees have grabbed at the wrists and arms of the Americans feeding them and tried to break their bones.” — Gitmo Jive by ‘Inside Gitmo‘ author Gordon Cucullu,

Life around Thomson would change, for better or worse:

“While the detainees will remain far from public sight, the men and women who will secure them stand to be the main forces of change. The Pentagon expects to deploy a staff of 1,000 to 1,500 people, about two-thirds military and one-third civilian. Service members would not bring their families during the first year, to give school districts time to prepare. Enlisted soldiers might end up living at a nearby military installation, one official said. Because Thomson would host military tribunals, the government also will ask some staff to remain undercover to avoid becoming targets. More security muscle will come from the U.S. Marshals Service, which will protect judges, jurors and prosecutors and their relatives, if necessary.”

Click on image to view a pdf side-by-side comparison of Gitmo to Thomson

The only boom there might be the one lowered on the Mayor. For each of the 100 to 125 detainees held at Thomson, the town would be paid $100 per year per month. That $150,000 might cover the costs of a police force, station, cars, and training, plus legal fees and liability insurance. The tax base will diminish when the federal government either buys or takes property for the TCC to create stand-off distance to employ heavy weapons. On the bright side, business would flourish if defense lawyers and store front mosques set up shop. Yet the town should expect an ACLU-led lawsuit if it outlaws loudspeakers calling the faithful to prayer five times a day without also silencing the ringing of church bells on Sunday mornings.

Guantanamo Bay’s detention facility costs $100 million a year to operate (Cuba reinforces the perimeter for free). If we close it, thousands of federal, state, and local law enforcement officers will patrol far and near and billions of dollars will be spent to secure less than 200 detainees inside the United States. Instead of elite anti-terror units conducting surveillance in line with the gathered intelligence, many will be protecting judges, prosecutors, and others living under dire threat. In addition, the FBI will divert a Joint Terrorism Task Force to assist each pre-trial investigation. No, al Qaeda will not break out of “beyond Supermax.” They’ll just wage jailhouse jihad at every opportunity and force guards to extract them from their cells when its feeding time. The slightest bruise will be dutifully reported to the press by their pro bono lawyers. Those indicted will have similar fun in lockups around the country for, in addition to Manhattan and Brooklyn, an additional 50 detainees will be farmed out for federal prosecution.

Thomson and a few federal courthouses would become fortresses. The trio touting those ideas also handed al Qaeda recruiting tools by comparing our troops to “Nazis, Soviets in their gulags or some mad regime — Pol Pot or others,” saying “the US has ended torture,” and admitting that “only a few detainees were read their rights.” Those same geniuses want to award war criminals Constitutional due process as the bonus prize for murdering more civilians than soldiers.

“Closing Gitmo would make our neighborhoods less safe,” will probably not be eight words sincerely used by President Barack Obama anytime soon. The protest in Sterling, Illinois on Tuesday is to demand that Congress break a bad campaign promise for him if the President can’t find good reason to do so on his own.