Khalid Sheikh Mohammed

9/11, Andy McCarthy, Eric Holder, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed

Andrew McCarthy on federal 9/11 trials: ‘struggle we’re in is a war, not a crime wave’

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Syndicated talk-radio host Mark Levin spoke with former Assistant United States Attorney Andrew McCarthy this evening about AG Eric Holder’s decision to prosecute 9/11’s conspirators, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four lieutenants, in federal court a mere 6 blocks from Ground Zero.

“The Cole bombing did not prompt a military war against al-Qaeda. It eventually resulted in a civilian indictment that is still pending. The Pentagon is the ultimate military target, and the attack against it spurred both the war we are now fighting and the implementation of military commissions to try jihadist war criminals. Yet, Holder has decided to give KSM & Co. the protections of a civilian trial rather than the rigors of a military hearing. Given that humanitarian law has for decades strived to civilize warfare by protecting civilians, it is perverse to swaddle mass murderers in full Bill of Rights protections while those who strike military assets get second-tier due process. But the point here is that Comey and Goldsmith are purporting to defend “Holder’s reasonable decision.” How reasonable can Holder’s decision be if his defenders must substitute their own suppositions for his, which, as they admit, cannot withstand scrutiny.”

Mark prefaced their discussion with today’s report that three Navy SEALs are being prosecuted for bloodying the lip of a captured terrorist who had murdered four Americans in April 2004 outside of Fallujah, Iraq:

A fuller report and audio from today’s 911NeverForget.Us press conference is here.

Come join us in lower Manhattan, in Foley Square, across the street from the federal courthouse at noon, Saturday, December 5, 2009. Regardless of whether you can be there in person or not, you can be there is spirit by adding your name to the more than 120,000 people who have co-signed our letter to President Obama.

9/11, Eric Holder, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Military Commissions

Lessons From Nuremberg: military courts can live up to the promise of the rule of law

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In the New York Times this morning, former Deputy-Assistant Attorney General Allan Gerson writes:

While it is true that military tribunals have in the past not accorded defendants the full range of procedural safeguards applicable in a criminal trial, this has changed in recent years. Section 949l(c) of the Military Commissions Act of 2009 specifically provides that the burden of proof, which rests on the government, is nothing less than that applicable in a criminal trial: beyond a reasonable doubt. Moreover, the allowances for the use of hearsay and coerced evidence have been eliminated by the Military Commissions Act of 2009. If one truly wants to have a “show” trail of U.S. fairness, there is no better model than what the military courts would do.

Finally, the use of a military tribunal would be understood around the globe. No country other than the United States has ever suggested that war crimes be tried in ordinary courts. The true moral advantage lies in demonstrating that military courts can live up to the promise of the rule of law.

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