Obama to Prosecute Khalid Shaikh Mohammed by Military Commission

Another campaign promise broken by Obama. I happen to think this is the right decision, thought it would have been nice if he had realized that earlier.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/05/us/05gitmo.html

"The Obama administration, ending more than a year of indecision with a major policy reversal, will prosecute Khalid Shaikh Mohammed and four other people accused of plotting the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks before a military commission and not a civilian court, as it once planned.

Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. announced on Monday that he has cleared military prosecutors at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, to file war-crimes charges against the five detainees in the Sept. 11 case.

Mr. Holder had decided in November 2009 to move the case to a federal civilian courtroom in New York City, but the White House abandoned that plan amid a political backlash."

http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2011/04/028756.php

"Obama made his position on this point something of an insufferable cause. Eric Holder drew up an absurd little list of factors rationalizing the decision to try KSM in federal district court in New York. It was only yesterday that Obama was saying:

"There is also no question that Guantanamo set back the moral authority that is America's strongest currency in the world. Instead of building a durable framework for the struggle against al Qaeda that drew upon our deeply held values and traditions, our government was defending positions that undermined the rule of law...instead of serving as a tool to counter-terrorism, Guantanamo became a symbol that helped al Qaeda recruit terrorists to its cause. Indeed, the existence of Guantanamo likely created more terrorists around the world than it ever detained. So the record is clear: rather than keep us safer, the prison at Guantanamo has weakened American national security."

And this:

"Too often - our government made decisions based upon fear rather than foresight, and all too often trimmed facts and evidence to fit ideological predispositions. Instead of strategically applying our power and our principles, we too often set those principles aside as luxuries that we could no longer afford."

And this:

"In other words, we went off course. And this is not my assessment alone. It was an assessment that was shared by the American people, who nominated candidates for President from both major parties who, despite our many differences, called for a new approach - one that rejected torture, and recognized the imperative of closing the prison at Guantanamo Bay."

If Obama doesn't deserve credit for the decision, others do. I guess we can thank congressional Republicans for this moment of sanity.

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