Posted on 11/20/2009 7:33:17 PM PST by reaganaut1
The chairman of the U.S. House Armed Services Committee, Representative Ike Skelton, cast doubt on Friday about the Obama administration's decision to try the September 11, 2001, conspirators in a U.S. criminal court.
Skelton, a fellow Democrat of President Barack Obama, asked U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and Defense Secretary Robert Gates to brief the committee about the decision to use the criminal courts instead of the revamped military commissions.
"As a former prosecutor, I am not yet convinced that the right decision was made in these cases, nor that the presumption in favor of federal criminal trials over military tribunals for these detainees should continue," Skelton said in a letter to the two officials.
Holder this week defended his decision to move the trials of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the self-professed mastermind of the September 11 attacks, and four other alleged conspirators to a federal criminal court in New York from military commissions.
It has been mostly Republicans who have been critical of Holder's decision, questioning whether it will be easier to get a conviction in a criminal court rather than a military one because some of the evidence was obtained through coercive interrogations and probably cannot be used.
Holder has said he is aware of evidence that has not been made public that will help convict the five accused men. He expressed confidence that the trials would be successful.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Skelton, a fellow Democrat of President Barack Obama, asked U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and Defense Secretary Robert Gates to brief the committee about the decision to use the criminal courts instead of the revamped military commissions. "As a former prosecutor, I am not yet convinced that the right decision was made in these cases, nor that the presumption in favor of federal criminal trials over military tribunals for these detainees should continue," Skelton said in a letter to the two officials.
>> Good for Skelton.
Whatever.
Will he be voting for the end of our liberty as we know it?
Ike is worried about the next election. Despite his winning impressively last time this time will be different and Ike knows it.
Once again Reuters gets it miserably wrong! Republicans, and other thinking humans, recognize that these people are illegal enemy combatants and are NOT entitled to protection under the Constitution or by the US court system? It has nothing to do with where an EASIER conviction could be had......
He is scared of his relection
Your damned right he is....because we here in Mid-MO are fed up with him.
There is a lot of plotting right now here in Jeff City, and we are going to put up a viable opponent this cycle.
Watch.
Skelton has to go. He sits in a very Republican district, and he’s a Democrap . We can do better than him.
Have you seen Ike? I don’t think he has many elections left in him. While I would never vote for him, he’s always seemed like a decent man. At least as decent a person as a democrat congressman can be.
I’m pretty sure he voted against the health care monstrosity.
Good idea to invite Holder and Gates both to “brief” the committee.
As someone pointed out a couple of days ago, it’s not clear that Holder has a legal right to take this terrorist away from the Military and try him in a civilian court, UNLESS Secretary Gates agrees.
Well, Gates seems to be happy enough pimping for Obama. But at least let’s put the S.O.B. on record whether or not he agrees to the change of venue.
My American political science is weak, so I’m a little confused. Who does the military actually report to? It’s the Sec.Of Defense, isn’t it? I assume the AG actually reports to the prez? How can the AG demand the military hand over THEIR prisoners? What would happen if the Sec.Of Defense refused to hand them over? Wouldn’t that force blame to Obama, rather than on the AG as it seems to sit now? Pretty interesting battle behind doors, I would imagine.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.