Holder Defends Federal Court Terror Trials

It may not be the most popular position in some circles, but I think Justice and Obama got this one right. Fair is fair and credit where it's due, when it comes. I'd seen a story in Breaking Alt on the initial conviction , but Holder seems to be making statements since to indicate going further with these in the future.

Well, I'm not sure I entirely see the problem, personally. I DO see issues with trying battlefield captures that way. We'd almost need every soldier with a Miranda card and a Jag officer down to the squad level to insure a proper arrest by civilian court standards. This didn't happen that way though for background on the difference and what I wouldn't mind seeing Holder do, if it's going to work.

His whereabouts since Sept. 11 aren't clear, however. He is believed to have spent the last few years in Iran under "a form of house arrest." When he entered Turkey recently, he did so with a fake Saudi passport, according to the Turkish press. He was in the process of being deported to Kuwait when he was taken into U.S. custody in Jordan.

Source


That one came the old fashioned way and in a way that is court ready for civilian rules of process. (Obviously, since it worked in this case.) If you read that first source, it explains why this guy mattered and really, mattered at a level apart from almost all others. He wasn't just related, but appeared in videos and made his own Fatwas early on in all this.

I'll be a little less than impressed if he gets less than the max, so everyone remember to check back on this, but if the max is given, it's the end result the nation wants. At least on the ones where the guilt is clear, self declared as much as evidence supports it and opportunity ever comes to actually lay paws on them.

A propagandist and son-in-law to Osama bin Laden, Abu Ghaith became the highest-ranking al-Qaida member to be convicted in a civil trial on American soil since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks killed nearly 3,000 people at the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

He faces up to life in prison at sentencing on Sept. 8.

That leaves us with the development here and why it matters to what comes in the future.

Holder said Tuesday that the speedy conviction of al-Qaida propagandist Sulaiman Abu Ghaith vindicates superiority of federal courts over military commissions for terrorism trials.

"We never doubted the ability of our Article III court system to administer justice swiftly in this case, as it has in hundreds of other cases involving terrorism defendants," Holder said at a press conference, referring to the section of the Constitution related to the federal judiciary. "It would be a good thing for the country if this case has the result of putting that political debate to rest.

Source: Courthouse News

If he's talking about those taken like this, again, where civilian rules applied and it wasn't under military rules of a very different sort? Well? The fact I don't much care for the man doesn't mean his successes are any less successful or meaningful for what they are. This sounds like one in the Win column, by any standard.

Good with the bad.

I agree the Military Courts were a farce but this is a huge can of worms.

For Justice to prevail it must apply evenly to everyone.

As a wider issue, the terms Terrorist / Enemy Combatant / Enemy Soldier are used interchangeably to avoid the provisions of the Geneva Convention covering what happens to captured soldiers.

The whole attack on Iraqi was based on a lie and the absence of WMDs prove this. Where are the trials to bring to Justice the lying pricks who are responsible for the deaths of so many innocent civilians.

What right does the US have to pick someone up from Jordan and spirit him away to the US.

Maybe, in this one case, it was warranted but then, when do we put the war mongers in DC on trial for crimes against humanity.

I have seen vids of youths just playing soccer getting wiped out by a hell fire missile and then when the first responders turn up, they get hit by another missile. It seems that US Justice is very much one sided.

The whole quagmire of 911 leaves more questions than answers. Will this guy get a fair trial, I very much doubt it!

P

reply to post by Wrabbit2000


OK, fair enough for Eric Holder. I think that's a first for me saying it but credit where credit due.

Did I say that..?.. Yeah, good on this one.

I believe these things need to move out of military jurisdiction. Catch them, even hold them at Gitmo in a limited basis if needed, fine. Then have a real trial.

reply to post by pheonix358

Maybe, in this one case, it was warranted but then, when do we put the war mongers in DC on trial for crimes against humanity.

I understand your frustration and I share it. Believe me. There are people up and down the chains of both military and political command that need a day in court they aren't willingly participating in, followed by a glorious vacation of many years in one of the Fed's finer correctional institutions. Florence, Colorado would do nicely. Sub-Levels, of course. (smile)

While we hope and look for some sign of that happening (I don't recommend holding one's breath to wait..it may be fatal), we can't let the true bad guys, however many there actually are vs. the ghosts we're told we're chasing..just walk away. This one made a spectacle of his own guilt, by his own hand.

Yep id say Holder himself deserves a fair trial too......asshole....

reply to post by Wrabbit2000

This one made a spectacle of his own guilt, by his own hand.

Yes he did, that we can easily agree on.

Was he always this bad, or were there circumstances that made him what he is. The current War on Terror has a habit of being self perpetuating. More terrorists are created on a daily basis than will ever be killed.

Someone comes along, drops a hell fire missile and kills my kids, well, I will not sit idly by and take it on the chin.

So ... is this guy a product of America's 'Foreign Policy."

Honestly, I have no idea. But suggesting he will get a fair trial in the US ...... no, never going to happen.

This trial should be by the world court, but there is a huge risk for the US in doing so. Someone may enter some disturbing evidence into the procedures.

I am thinking of the 'Hold Your Ground' laws active within the US. When is self defense valid against a super power.

P

A few decades ago A.G. Holder would have racked up about 5 life sentences with the crimes he has gotten away with at Justice.

No one trust his. People are wary of him. The nations top cop has a dictatorship over every single facet of law enforcement in America.

It's somewhat hard to say but persons up and down the chain of command are truly frightened of him. I don't feel that comfortable posting this.

It's a fact that throughout history American Attorney Generals have been crooks-however he has taken that to a whole new stratosphere.