We live in America right? You sure? Because I’m really starting to question that as of late. Tea Part Protesters, Fox News windbags and some nut case republican Congressmen and women will tell you that the democrats and President Obama are turning this country towards socialism with their domestic economic policies. That’s pretty ironic. Its ironic because the same people talking about how communist-like the President’s economic policies are, have no problem acting like a repressive communist regime themselves when it comes to handling terrorists housed at Gitmo.
This whole debate about trying 9/11 terror suspects on U.S. soil has me perplexed. Its like the torture debate. I can’t seem to understand why this is even up for debate. We’re a country that prides ourselves on our ability to give fair and balanced justice. Really, what does it say about the progression of our society when a big portion of it thinks that these terrorists shouldn’t be tried in court and given due process? The arguments against trying and imprisoning terrorists on U.S. soil are absolutely absurd. First off, let’s make the distinction. We’re not talking “terrorists”. We’re talking ‘Muslim Extremists’ who happen to be terrorists. See, cause Timothy McVeigh was also a terrorist and we had no problem giving him due process. But then again, we’re not talking all ‘Muslim Extremists’ are we? We’re talking only post-9/11 ‘Muslim Extremists’. Wait…I’m jumping ahead of myself. Let me back up.
Most Americans who are against trying and imprisoning terror suspects domestically are wildly uninformed. Let’s take Joe Scarborough for instance. He’s seen as a “responsible” voice in the republican party. This is what he had to say:
Giuliani called it ideology run wild. You had ideology, a lot of Democrats would say, on the right for eight years under George W. Bush and Dick Cheney where these people were thrown in prisons and they didn’t get lawyers and of course we’ve debated that debate.
It seems to me Eric Holder and Barack Obama come into office and Democrats take over and we go all the way to the other side doing something unprecedented. And Mark Halperin, you had Pat Leahy – and I must say I am completely flummoxed as to why the chairman of the Judiciary Committee would compare Khalid Shaikh Mohammed to Timothy McVeigh. Timothy McVeigh, born in the United States of America, a citizen of the United States of America, afforded all the constitutional protections that are afforded to those who are citizens of the United States of America. And he and people like him have been afforded those constitutional protections for over 200 years. People that blow up Americans – kill them – this has never happened before. It’s unprecedented to afford constitutional rights to, basically, prisoners of war.
Ummm…excuse me Joe, but “unprecedented”? Are you kidding me? First off, you’re quoting Giuliani who honestly has no idea what he’s talking about when it comes to foreign policy. He just gives quotables and soundbites (more on that later). But more importantly, look at the line I bolded. Why do people like Scarborough and many others ignore the fact that the terrorists that planned the 1993 World Trade Center bombings where tried and convicted in this country as well. Not only were these individuals given trials here but a good number of them are being held in ADX Florence, a supermax prison in Colorado. ADX Florence is considered one of the most secure prisons IN THE WORLD. I guess that means we only can’t try, convict and imprison post-9/11 Muslim extremists. Oh but wait. The Bush Administration tried and convicted Zacarious Moussaoui (called the 12th 9/11 hijacker) and several other terrorists here in this country. Remember ‘The Shoe Bomber”. Yeah, he’s in ADX Florence as well. Tried and convicted here in the states. So what’s the problem with trying and imprisoning these terrorists here? Let’s ask Mr. 9/11 himself, Rudy Giuliani:
“This is the same mistake we made with the 1993 terrorists who attacked the World Trade Center. We treated them like domestic criminals, when in fact they were terrorists. In the dangerous world we live in today, a nation unable to identify and properly define its enemies is a nation in danger.”
Huh? Excuse me? What does that sound bite have to do with anything. If Khalid Sheikh Mohamed is tried and convicted and locked up in a supermax prision for 240 years or even better, given the death penalty, how does that weaken our nation? Oh…wait. If he’s locked away according to our rules and laws, that means we can’t waterboard him 183 times in a month in order to glean useless information from him. Apparently every day that Khalid Sheikh Mohamed goes without being waterboarded, Dick Cheney kills a kitten. Won’t we think of the kittens?
Come on let’s be serious. It pisses me off to no end that people all of the sudden forget the foundations we have in place in our civilian court system. People say “Well we don’t want Mohamed and others using the court to grandstand”. Ummm, last I checked, unruly defendants can be removed from court in order to keep them from disrupting the court room. Others say putting him on trial in civilian court means that they’ll have to reveal top secret National Security information. Again, last time I checked, there was a process in place to protect the identities and sources of certain information at trial. They do it all the time with the trials of the Mafia or gangs. Lastly, there’s the off chance that these terrorists could be found innocent. Now I find that absolutely absurd. If anything, any trial, be it civilian or military commission, is just for show. We know these fools are guilty. Most of them are proud of what they’ve done. Those responsible for the horrors of 9/11 will not be found innocent, no more than those that were responsible for the 1993 World Trade Center attack were. But let’s play devil’s advocate and say ‘What if they were?’ Okay, Khalid Sheikh Mohamed is found innocent and is allowed to walk out of a New York courthouse. How long do you think he lasts on the street? I say he doesn’t even make a block, even with an armed bodyguard. This notion that Mohamed could somehow escape justice is laughable. Hell, he’s already been waterboarded 183 times, he’s probably begging for the needle now.
Truth be told, there’s no rational or logical excuse as to why we can’t try and imprison terrorists here in this country. Sure, there’s an emotional excuse. New Yorkers and many others in the country don’t want to relive the horrors of September 11, 2001 again. Having trials in this country would reopen that wound. But is our failure as a country to deal with an open wound excuse enough to turn our back on the justice system we have in this country? You’ll have to excuse me if I say ‘No’. And shame on all those Glenn Beck 9/12 protesters, tea party activists and conservatives talking about following the Constitution and rules of laws who all of the sudden want to forget about that when its convenient.
