Free Republic

Will Barack Hussein Obama become just another name in the long list of defamed, failed, and corrupt Illinois politicians? Will he follow in Governor Blagojevich’s footsteps as another Democrat whose party abandoned him? Has his fall from political grace begun? In the short span of time this administration has provoked far more questions, than it claimed to have answers to. In a rare flash of rationality, Chris Matthews, host of MSNBC’s Hardball had some questions of his own: “President Obama has his chin out on about every hot issue out there, health care, terror trials, job losses, even the breast...

AG Eric Holder's statement that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed will remain in custody no matter what the verdict in his upcoming Manhattan trial, coupled with Obama's instructions to the jury that KSM be "convicted and executed", reveals the entire exercise as a show trial, a ritual effort intended not to achieve justice, but to make a public political point. The question is, what could that point possibly be? Show trials had a long and ignoble history in the last century. Pioneered in the USSR by the Stalin regime, they were used as method of instilling terror into the vozhd's enemies, ensuring...

Scott Fenstermaker, an attorney for terrorists at Gitmo, is on Bill O'Reilly now and is repeatedly refusing to answer the question, "Were the people killed on 911 murdered?" He just kept answering that the jury will decide that. He is also saying the trial will be filled with "US propaganda." No link, it's on O'Reilly.

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) - An Army psychiatrist accused of killing 13 people during an attack on his Texas post will likely plead not guilty to the charges against him and may use an insanity defense at his military trial, his attorney said Monday. John Galligan, the civilian attorney for Maj. Nidal Hasan, said he is considering an insanity defense among other options, but that it's too early to determine his defense strategy. "Based on the evidence thus far, his mental status must be raised," Galligan told The Associated Press by phone from his office near Fort Hood, about 130...

he prosecution team I led in 1995 convicted the notorious Blind Sheikh and 11 others for conspiring to wage a terrorist war that included the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and attempting (unsuccessfully) to attack New York City landmarks. Consequently, some observers seem puzzled that I'm a vocal critic of civilian trials for our terrorist enemies. But they are confusing litigation success with national-security success. So is the Obama administration in deciding to transfer Khalid Shaikh Mohammed and four other 9/11 plotters to federal court in Manhattan. We certainly can convict terrorists in civilian court. We've done it too many...

Brace yourself, an ounce of common sense has been found in a Democrat! Rep. Ike Skelton (D-Mo.) penned a letter to Holder and Defense Secretary Robert Gates suggesting military trials would be a more appropriate venue for the accused terrorists. “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 wrote. … “The decision to terminate the prosecution of these self-confessed terrorists in military commissions, transfer them to the United States, and bring...

Germans don't want KSM or the other turds to die.

President Obama has said it was Attorney General Eric Holder who decided to try Khalid Sheik Mohammed, the self-proclaimed 9/11 mastermind, and four other Guantanamo Bay detainees in civilian federal court in New York City. Yet, as a matter of law, that can't be true. "You know, I said to the attorney general, 'make a decision based on the law,' " the president told CNN. In Holder's testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee, he confirmed that Obama had left it up to him: "This was a tough call, and reasonable people can disagree with my conclusion that these individuals should...

Here are a few facts we can’t overlook. *A retired Army lawyer speaking at a TEA Party rally this past week explained the dangers this trail poses to national security. He predicted a “civilian” trial will lead to the exposure of some of America’s most important military secrets and methods of keeping us safe since 9-11. During the trial of John Walker Lindh he was in charge of a team of military lawyers whose only job was defeating ACLU filings designed to expose America’s secrets. He confidently predicted this would happen again during this trial, but sadly concluded the military’s...

If there was ever a more irresponsible decision by a U.S. attorney general than Eric Holder's decision to try the mastermind of the 9/11 terrorist attack and four others as common criminals in a civilian court in New York City, I can't recall it. He is gambling with the nation's security and providing a platform that will give aid and comfort to the enemy at a time of war. And he is doing so with no discernible benefit, least of all to showcase the strength of our judicial system. Does Eric Holder remember the most infamous criminal trial of the...

This week, while "the most traveled president in history" was on his latest foreign adventure and bowing to Japanese Emperor Akihito, the rest of the O-Team was busy kowtowing to political correctness. The headlines tell the story: "(Defense Secretary Robert) Gates Condemns Leaks on Fort Hood Investigation," and "Gates Says 'Shut Up' About Fort Hood." "Attorney General Eric Holder Announces Terror Trials in New York City for 9-11-01 Plotters." "Guantanamo Detainees to Illinois Prison." All three of these actions -- the Gates outburst, the Holder decision to try Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four other 9/11 conspirators in a Manhattan federal...

Lynne Stewart was sent to prison today. People throughout the United States and around the world recognize this as a great miscarriage of justice. Her indictment was an outrage. So too was her conviction. The fact that this seventy year old veteran civil rights attorney has been sent to prison is a crime itself. She is serving a 28 month sentence although the Court of Appeals has remanded her case back to the original trial court with the hope that her sentence will be lengthened. The Bush Justice Department had sought a 30 year sentence. “Lynne Stewart should be set...

-- For a moment, he became judge, jury and executioner. President Obama yesterday blurted out a predicted conviction and death sentence for 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheik Mohammed -- then sheepishly qualified the prejudgment. In one of several TV interviews at the end of his Asia trip, Obama said those offended by the legal privileges offered to Mohammed in a civilian rather than military trial won't find it "offensive at all when he's convicted and when the death penalty is applied to him." And then he quickly backtracked, saying he didn't mean to suggest he was prejudging the self-confessed mass murderer....

US President Barack Obama, defending plans to try Khalid Sheikh Mohammed in civilian court, predicted the accused September 11 author would be convicted and executed. And US Attorney General Eric Holder assured lawmakers that prosecutors know "failure is not an option" and that Sheikh Mohammed would not be freed even if acquitted by a jury in New York, a city still scarred by the 2001 attacks. Obama, speaking to NBC television during a trip to Asia, said that anger and security worries over the planned civilian trial would fall away "when he's convicted and when the death penalty is applied...

A judge on Wednesday handed a six-year jail sentence to a man accused of plotting to blow up the Sears Tower in Chicago and allegedly swearing allegiance to Al-Qaeda.

Attorney General Eric Holder's decision to try Khalid Sheik Mohammed in a federal civilian court is inconsistent, indefensible and inexplicable. It is inconsistent with Holder's own decision to try Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri in a military commission. It is indefensible in light of the unmistakable intentions of the Framers of the Constitution. It is inexplicable by any prudential analysis of the national interest in dealing with an enemy like al-Qaida. Some strange ideological impulse -- rather than common sense and respect for the rule of law -- is driving the Obama administration to give special treatment to the perpetrator of one...

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama predicted that professed Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed will be convicted and executed as Attorney General Eric Holder proclaimed: "Failure is not an option." Even if a terror trial suspect were acquitted, Holder said, he would not be released in the United States. In one of a series of TV interviews during his trip to Asia, Obama said those offended by the legal privileges given to Mohammed by virtue of getting a civilian trial rather than a military tribunal won't find it "offensive at all when he's convicted and when the death penalty...

Moussaoui asks court to allow his terrorism trial to be televised By Larry Margasak, Associated Press, 1/4/2002 12:33 ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) Zacarias Moussaoui, the first person charged as an accomplice in the Sept. 11 attacks, asked a judge Friday to allow cameras to televise his conspiracy trial this fall. ''Mr. Moussaoui recognizes that the American criminal justice system will be on display for the entire world as the trial of this action proceeds,'' said a defense motion supporting a proposal by Court TV to carry the proceedings. Televising the trial would ''add an additional layer of protection to see these ...

Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four co-conspirators detained at Gitmo are to face trial in a federal district court in New York City, where the death penalty may be sought. They had been facing trial by a military commission at Gitmo, but President Obama decided that he would prefer that the trial be in a civilian court. U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder expressed confidence that the cases were strong, and said the trials would not be impaired by the harsh interrogations of Mohammed and others: I am confident in the ability of our courts to provide these defendants a fair trial,...

So now Khalid Sheik Mohammed (KSM) and five self-confessed 9/11 co-conspirators are to be tried not as war criminals in a military tribunal but rather in civilian court just blocks from Ground Zero. A civilian format will allow challenges of evidence obtained under duress (ie. water-boarding), question the legality of KSM’s 2003 capture, and even negate confessions extracted without the full protections of the Constitution being first explained to the detainees. And thus do I have a horrible feeling that these trials will degenerate into a case against the Bush Administration as much as the terrorists themselves. As for demonstrating...

The government is going to be in a position where it either has to defend the process that brought the Sheikh to court or seek ways to prevent these issues from arising. However, because Mr. Obama promised that Mr. Mohammed would enjoy the most exacting demands of justice, they probably will be given a full airing. We await a further explanation from the president to clarify how this makes the country safer, particularly if Mr. Mohammed leaves New York a free man.

While it is widely assumed that any jury in New York would find the 9/11 terrorists guilty, especially given their previous confessions, it's within the realm of probability that a Muslim juror would vote to acquit based upon his/her loyalty to (or fear of) Islam.

Gov. David Paterson openly criticized the White House on Monday, saying he thought it was a terrible idea to move alleged 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four other suspected terrorists to New York for trial.

This morning on Fox & Friends, three 9/11 family members debated President Barack Obama's decision to try Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four other top attack conspirators in a federal court just six blocks away from the World Trade Center. The three were Debra Burlingame, James Riches Sr., and Charles Wolf. (See the video after the jump.)

Washington, D.C. ­– U.S. Senator John McCain (R AZ) issued the following statement on the Obama Administration’s decision to try Khalid Sheikh Mohammed (KSM) and four other Al-Qaeda terrorists suspected of planning and executing the September 11th attacks in the United States Federal District Court for the Southern District of New York: “I am extremely disappointed with the Obama Administration’s decision to try in U.S. civilian courts the Al-Qaeda terrorists who planned, supported, and conducted the September 11th attacks. These terrorists are not common criminals. They are war criminals, who committed acts of war against our citizens and those of...

One hundred of the worst terrorists in the world are coming to Barack Obama's two favorite states, Illinois and Iowa. Obama is from Illinois. His victory in the 2008 Iowa Caucuses provided Obama the springboard to the Presidency. How will he reward those states?

Bringing those accused in the Sept. 11 attacks to New York for trial would increase the security threat to the city and give radical Islamists a platform to propagate their ideology, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani said Sunday. Giuliani's view that the Obama administration is erring in trying Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four others near the site of the World Trade Center was echoed by other Republicans on the Sunday news programs. Democrats defended the decision of Attorney General Eric Holder to try the five in New York where more than 2,000 civilians were killed on Sept. 11. If...

There is no way the media can ignore Holder's controversial decision to try 911 conspirators in New York courts. Don't expect them them to cover the pressure behind the scenes that made it happen though. Don't expect them to hold Obama to his past opinions either. Much has been written over the past 24 hours that does well to explain why the Obama regime's despicable decision to bestow unprecedented constitutional protections on those whose only connection to America is that they have directed the incineration of thousands of our innocent countrymen or worked not quite as "successfully" for the same...

There is obviously a lot of discussion on FR concerning Obama's decision to try Khalid Sheikh Mohammed in a civialian trial in NYC. Most of the comments have centered around the horrible possibility of a new terrorist attack against the court or somewhere nearby. I want to focus on another item I haven't seen discussed... what would happen to KSM, etc if the verdict is Not Guilty? Do they walk? Are they deported? As cleared, are they free to roam the streets of NYC? I am being deadly serious... If you open this to the civilian legal system, what would...

WASH­ING­TON — Not long after he was roust­ed from bed and seized in a predawn raid in Pak­is­tan in March 2003, Khalid Shaikh Mo­hammed gave his cap­tors two de­mands: He want­ed a lawyer, and he want­ed to be taken to New York. After a near­ly sev­en-year odyssey that took him to se­cret Cen­tral In­tel­li­gence Agen­cy jails in Eu­rope and an Amer­i­can mil­i­tary prison in Cuba, Mr. Mo­hammed is fi­nal­ly like­ly to get his wish. He will be the most se­nior lead­er of Al Qaeda to date held to ac­count for the mass mur­der of near­ly 3,000 Amer­i­cans, fac­ing trial in...

Just announced. No follow-up yet.

9/11 Trial in NYC?? Published: 11/14/2009 Author: Carolyn Posted On: November 14, 2009 at 8:54 AM By: Kathy As you know by now, President Obama and Eric Holder are planning on bringing the 9/11 masterminds toNYC for trial.  There is a massive grassroots movement to block this - retired members of the FDNY, theBravest.com, have partnered with 9/11 Families for a Safe & Strong and America and Keep America Safe to bring attention to this travesty.  They are recruiting the families & friends of the FDNY to combat this ill-conceived policy of the current administration.  They are asking that all of America join in with...

"I am absolutely convinced that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed will be subject to the most exacting demands of justice," President Obama said in Tokyo. "The American people will insist on it and my administration will insist on it." But what happens if KSM or any of the other 9/11 defendants the Obama administration is bringing to New York for criminal prosecutions -- including Ramzi Bin al-Shibh, Walid bin Attash, Ali Abdul Aziz Ali and Mustafa Ahmed al-Hawsawi -- are somehow found not guilty? Attorney General Eric Holder brushed off the question, saying, "I would not have authorized the bringing of these...

Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani blasted the Obama administration on Friday for its decision to try five Sept. 11 suspects in New York, saying that such a trial would only encourage terrorists to target the city once again. Earlier Friday, Attorney General Eric Holder announced that self-proclaimed 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four other detainees held at the Guantanamo Bay facility in Cuba would be transported onto U.S. soil to face justice in civilian court. "After eight years of delay, those allegedly responsible for that attacks of September the 11th will finally face justice," Holder said. "They...

The father of slain Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl slammed the Obama administration's decision to hold a public trial for admitted 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheik Mohammed -- who boasted of killing his son in Pakistan. Judea Pearl said he was "sick to the stomach" when he heard that the Justice Department decided to prosecute Mohammed in Manhattan federal court. "I don't want to hear every morning in the papers what KSM did," Pearl told The Post last night. "Danny was killed once. Now he will be killed 10 times a day. Leave him alone." VIDEO: 9/11 SUSPECTS TO BE...

Senator Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), who led an effort last week to prevent the Obama Administration from doing just what it did today in directing prosecution of the alleged Sept. 11 plotters into federal court, says he's keeping mum about that decision for now at the request of the White House. "I have been asked by the White House to withhold comment about today’s Guantanamo decision until I can meet face-to-face with the President after he returns from Asia," Graham said in a statement released by his office. "As our Commander in Chief, I will honor his request. I look forward...

<p>Outraged New Yorkers said yesterday that admitted 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheik Mohammed and four other terrorists deserve to be put to death -- and some even volunteered for the job.</p> <p>"Kill them without a trial. Just a bullet in the head and say goodbye. Why waste taxpayer money?" said Thomas Pland, 70, a truck driver from Astoria, Queens.</p>

Showing once again that there is no depth to which he will not sink to further destroy the United States of America and her people, Dictator and American Stalin Barack Hussein Obama has decided to inflict the mastermind of the 9/11 NYC attacks, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, back into and upon the same city where eight years ago the slaughter of Americans occurred. Obama has directed that his fellow Muslim Mohammed be tried in a civilian court with all US Constitutional rights that are afforded to American citizens. Instead of having the military conduct this beast’s trial, Obama is rubbing the...

Eric Holder's decision to move a trial on war crimes to American soil is morally confused, dangerous and political to a fault. Coming soon to a civilian courtroom blocks from Ground Zero: Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and the four other al Qaeda planners of 9/11. Be sure to get your tickets early, and don't forget to watch out for the truck-bomb barricades and rooftop snipers. Attorney General Eric Holder, who dropped this legal bomb on New York yesterday, called his decision to move their trial on war crimes from a military courtroom at Guantanamo Bay to American soil "the toughest" he...

Like many New Yorkers and members of the families of the nearly 3,000 innocent Americans murdered on that horrific Tuesday morning eight years ago, I'm outraged and insulted by President Obama's decision to transfer Khalid Sheik Mohammed, the admitted mastermind of the 9/11 attacks, to New York City for trial in civilian federal court. The decision will go down in history as one of the worst made by any US president. While it may be hailed by Europeans, the ACLU and the far-left-wing of the Democratic Party, the president's action actually threatens American lives and weakens US national security.

Attorney General Eric Holder's decision to try Khalid Sheik Mohammed and four other Guantanamo Bay detainees in civilian federal court in New York City is the latest in a long series of missteps in the war against radical Islamist terrorism. KSM -- the notorious, self-proclaimed mastermind of the 9/11 attacks -- and the other accused terrorists will no longer face trial in military commissions, which the US government has historically used for such cases. The administration's decision is a blatantly political one -- intended to placate the ACLU and the radical Left -- that jeopardizes the interests of the nation.

The alleged mastermind of the 9/11 attacks will be tried in a civilian court blocks from where Al-Qaeda hijackers crashed two airliners into the World Trade Center, the US government announced. Attorney General Eric Holder said prosecutors would seek the death penalty against Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four suspected co-plotters, who are held at Guantanamo Bay but will be moved to a New York prison ahead of their trial. "After eight years of delay, those allegedly responsible for the attacks of September 11 will finally face justice," Holder said, without giving a date. "They will be brought to New York...

Hauling the professed 9/11 mastermind and four alleged henchmen to a New York courthouse is a risky proposition for President Barack Obama. The move will bar evidence obtained under duress and complicate a case where anything short of slamdunk convictions will empower the president's critics. Attorney General Eric Holder announced the decision Friday to bring Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four others detained at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to trial at a lower Manhattan courthouse hard by the site of the World Trade Center, whose twin towers they will be charged with destroying. The case is likely to force the civilian federal...

Family members of some of the victims of the 9/11 attacks are voicing outrage over the decision to take the self-proclaimed mastermind of the attacks to New York and try him in a federal civilian court. Attorney General Eric Holder announced today that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four other Guantanamo Bay detainees will be tried in a courthouse just blocks from where the World Trade Center stood. The widow of a pilot of the hijacked plane that crashed into the Pentagon, Debra Burlingame, says, "We have a president who doesn't know we're at war."

Congressional Republicans – along with independent Democratic Sen. Joe Lieberman – are not happy with the Obama administration's decision to try alleged Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed (left) and four other Guantanamo Bay detainees in civilian federal court in New York. "The Obama Administration's irresponsible decision to prosecute the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks in New York City puts the interests of liberal special interest groups before the safety and security of the American people," said House Republican leader John Boehner in a statement. "The possibility that Khalid Sheik Mohammed and his co-conspirators could be found 'not guilty' due...

Khalid Sheikh Mohammed to Be Sent to New York for Trial

Source: 9/11 Terror Detainees Face Trial in N.Y. Friday, November 13, 2009 WASHINGTON — Self-proclaimed Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four other Guantanamo Bay detainees will be sent to New York to face trial in a civilian federal court, an Obama administration official said Friday. The official said Attorney General Eric Holder plans to announce the decision later in the morning. The official is not authorized to discuss the decision before the announcement, so spoke on condition of anonymity.

WASHINGTON -- Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, alleged mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, and four others accused in the attacks will be put on criminal trial in New York, Attorney General Eric Holder is expected to announce later Friday. The decision, described by people familiar with the matter, is part of wider announcement planned on how to bring to justice detainees held at the Guantanamo Bay prison. It's the first set of decisions before a Monday deadline on how to deal with the more than 200 prisoners remaining at the facility, which President Barack Obama has ordered closed.

No Constitutional Rights For Red-Blooded Americans bythelastcrusade.org Welcome to the Islamic America of Barack Hussein Obama,Self-proclaimed Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four other Guantanamo Bay detainees have been granted full rights and protection under the U.S. Constitution.They will be sent to New York to face trial in a civilian federal court, an Obama administration official announced today.Under the Fifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, Mr. Mohammed and the other “alleged” terrorists will have the right to a speedy trial, the right to publicly paid counsel, the right to immediate access to all government evidence - - including...

The accused mastermind of the September 11 attacks and four other suspects will be sent to New York and prosecuted in a court near where the World Trade Center once stood, the U.S. government said Friday, as it took a step toward closing the Guantanamo Bay military prison. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and the others had been facing trials in military commissions at the U.S. naval base in Cuba, but U.S. President Barack Obama has pledged to move some cases to U.S. criminal courts and close the prison by mid-January. Obama's decision to close Guantanamo, a symbol for critics abroad of...