Gitmo

9/11, al Qaeda, Barack Obama, Debra Burlingame, detainees, DOJ, Gitmo, James Cole

James Cole DAG nominee ‘aggressive demilitarizing of the war’: Debra Burlingame

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Debra Burlingame spoke with talk radio host Steve Malzberg yesterday after the Senate Judiciary Committee nomination hearing of James Cole to become the Deputy Attorney General of the United States:

“[James Cole’s] client was Naif Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, the Foreign Minister who ran the Al Haramain charity, this huge Saudi “charity” was shut down by the Treasury Department in 2004 — and we haven’t been able to confirm that it was shut down. … They gave millions of dollars to terrorists; they supported al Qaeda before 9/11 and after 9/11 … This is a huge, huge conflict of interest because how is this man going to be investigating, prosecuting, detaining, and interrogating the people who in fact are his former clients?”

Here is the full audio of the interview:

To be fair to both Malzberg and the “feckless Republicans” he spoke of, Senator Jeff Sessions made a noble effort within the too few minutes available to him, the nomination was only announced the day before, and committee Democrats consumed two-thirds of the 2-hour hearing with glowing adoration for James Cole, potshots at the previous administration, and posturing on other matters. (Senators Patrick Leahy and Sheldon Whitehouse would willingly submit to months of continuous waterboarding before asking even one probing question of a Democrat President’s nominee.) There was a lot of ground to cover with Cole and not nearly enough time to cover it all. Still, Senator Lindsay Graham came to the hearing with a rubber stamp “yea” vote for Cole and his C-SPAN “thoughtful” face set to further his own agenda: horse trading the closing of Gitmo for passage into law of his vision of the legal war against terror.

You can watch the replay of the hearing here.

9/11, al Qaeda, Gitmo, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, KSM, Military Commissions

Jam the jihad; a military commission judge should silence KSM’s propaganda

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Our nation makes selective use of enemy communications. We intercept to gather intelligence and jam to disrupt enemy command and control; these help shape the battlefield and forces the enemy to fight at a disadvantage. Limiting enemy propaganda is a critical aspect of winning the information battle fought during every war.

Some, including Michael Daly at the New York Daily News, used the subway bomb plotter’s fifteen minutes of fame in Brooklyn’s federal court to claim there would be no harm in prosecuting Khalid Sheikh Mohammed the same way, in the same place:

Why not put Khalid Shaikh Mohammed on trial in New York … He is only going to make himself sound as twisted as Ahmedzay. He is sure to sound exactly like a monster who would murder thousands of innocents. He certainly is not going to sway anybody who has any sense and decency.

President Franklin Roosevelt provided no public forum to enemy war criminals to spew pro-Nazi propaganda. On June 13, 1942, eight German saboteurs landed on Long Island and Florida shores and buried their uniforms on the beach. According to the U.S. Department of Justice:

The purpose of the invasions was to strike a major blow for Germany by bringing the violence of war to our home ground through destruction of America’s ability to manufacture vital equipment and supplies and transport them to the battlegrounds of Europe; to strike fear into the American civilian population, and diminish the resolve of the United States to overcome our enemies.

All eight were captured a week later and six of the eight — including American citizen Herbert Hans Haupt — were executed a mere fifty-six days after landing. Their military tribunals were witnessed by a few selected journalists; the courtroom was closed to them when classified information was discussed and their news reports were censored. Germany made no further attempt to attack America on its soil during WWII.

Why help Khalid Sheikh Mohammed slaughter thousands more?

At Gitmo, judges and prosecutors have a ‘pause button’ close at hand to instantly silence the sound outside the glass enclosed section of the courtroom to prevent the accidental release of classified information.

It should also be used to silence KSM’s propaganda whenever he attempts to incite more to fight our troops and attack the innocent. The defense lawyers and mainstream media (and al Jazeera) would denounce the practice. So what? (They would denounce his trial by military commission regardless.) FDR ignored their complaints and informed the Supreme Court he would do the same to them, no matter how they ruled.

Khalid Sheikh Mohammed is not some righteous dissident; he is a senior member of al Qaeda. America’s enemies have no Constitutional right to use our system to promote their causes.

Let’s jam the jihad as we prosecute the 9/11 conspirators.