Mar 05 2010

Is Obama Folding On Terrorist Trials?

Published by at 7:19 am under All General Discussions,Bin Laden/GWOT

It seems President Obama is about to overturn the idiotic decision made by lefty Attorney General Eric Holder on where to try the enemy combatant terrorists:

President Obama’s advisers are nearing a recommendation that Khalid Sheik Mohammed, the self-proclaimed mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, be prosecuted in a military tribunal, administration officials said, a step that would reverse Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr.’s plan to try him in civilian court in New York City.

The president’s advisers feel increasingly hemmed in by bipartisan opposition to a federal trial in New York and demands, mainly from Republicans, that Mohammed and his accused co-conspirators remain under military jurisdiction, officials said. While Obama has favored trying some terrorism suspects in civilian courts as a symbol of U.S. commitment to the rule of law, critics have said military tribunals are the appropriate venue for those accused of attacking the United States.

If Obama accepts the likely recommendation of his advisers, the White House may be able to secure from Congress the funding and legal authority it needs to close the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and replace it with a facility within the United States. The administration has failed to meet a self-imposed one-year deadline to close Guantanamo.

This would be a pretty major reversal for Obama on a matter that was seriously eroding trust in his judgement and administration. It is about time. It will not be enough to reverse the concern that has been building around team Obama since Holder and Brennan started dismantling the Bush approach to protecting America. But it is one small step.

If it actually happens. President Obama is notorious for taking all sides publicly and running left behind the scenes.

8 responses so far

8 Responses to “Is Obama Folding On Terrorist Trials?”

  1. WWS says:

    How does Holder stay in office after he’s been publicly humiliated by his boss? Whether it’s politcs or business, no one stays as head of a department after an incident like this, because all of the people in that department who answer to him know that his decisions are subject to being overturned without warning. He loses all of his authority in that most important area, his own office. And no one in Obama’s cabinet will ever trust him or listen to him again, because Obama’s demonstrated that this is the guy who gets thrown to the wolves (or under the bus) whenever things get hot. Nobody wants to be seen talking to that guy, that’s just dangerous.

    I can see how Obama might like to keep his own personal Stepin Fetchit in the Cabinet, but I cannot imagine any reason that Holder would want to go on playing that role.

  2. lurker9876 says:

    I read that Lindsay Graham worked a trade deal with Obama…trade KSM and the 911 planners through military tribunals for the closure of GITMO to a prison on US soil.

    But the Americans won’t and do not like this trade deal.

    With so many people that were forced to resign from the Obama adm, it should have become very clear to Obama and the American public that Obama has made very, very bad decisions in nominating and hiring certain people, such as

    Van Jones
    Anita Dunn
    Tom Daschle

    Now Redstate is claiming that Rahm is slowly being thrown under the bus.

    And I’m hearing rumors that Congress is challenging Charles Bolden over his Constellation decision and that Congress is looking to fund Constellation through some other avenues.

    So now with this possible reversal decision of the 9/11 planners and IF Congress overrides Obama, Holdren, and Bolden over Constellaion, then Obama will leave the WH with a very poor legacy. Obama also has lost so much credibility and trust with America. At least, he is making Carter look better and Carter’s smiling from ear to ear.

    I see that Obama has been trying to enact sanctions against Iran but Russia and China are saying that we need time and that there’s hope that Iran will capitulate. Ya think Russia and China are thinking Iran will collapse?

  3. WWS says:

    Kay Bailey Hutchison is leading the fight to keep the space shuttle funded now. Interestingly, since her loss to Perry she may just throw all those plans to resign from the Senate under the bus and stay in office until 2012.

    The voters were right – she’s gone Washington on us. But she may still do some good up there.

  4. lurker9876 says:

    And…

    I am very disappointed in the GOP reaction to Jim Bunning this week. If they supported him privately, their lack of public support is appalling.

    Too bad that it took a retirement for a senator to be BOLD and stand up against the inability to keep the books straight.

    I continue to be disappointed in NRSC and those other GOP political organizations.

    They *BELIEVE* in the first, conservative (by Merriam-Webster definition, meaning conserve money) principle but they don’t show it through their endorsements of candidates.

    It’s interesting to read that Perry is being painted as conservative. It’s only because in recent times, he’s singing the mantra of the first principles. At least, he listens to his constituents and reacted adequately. Such as the TTC and those injections for the 12 year old girls.

    I voted for Perry because I felt he was the best of all 5 candidates. I still plan to vote for Perry in November over White, even though he was my mayor. After watching how Obama and the Dems plan to ignore the US Constitution entirely, I just cannot put another Democrat in the office of governor of Texas. This is in spite of my voting for Bill White as my mayor. That is because there were no viable opposition to Bill White. He was the best choice on the ballot.

    November come time, Bill White will NOT be the best choice unless Perry screws up, which he will not.

    Perry (and Bush) were far better than what we’re getting from Obama and the Democrats. They are DEAF-TONE to their constituents. Too bad that the American public is split into two factions with one wanting public option and the other NOT wanting the public option.

  5. lurker9876 says:

    WWS, Perry is getting a lot of pressure from the GOP elitists to nominate someone else other than Michael Williams if Kay is to retire.

    But Kay is also getting a lot of pressure to NOT retire from the Senate at this time. The risk of a special election going to a Democrat over Kay will grant the Democrats another supermajority.

    I don’t blame them for trying to convince Kay to stay. At least, until after November when enough seats change to GOP, eliminating all risks of another supermajority in the Dems’ hands.

    Kay has done many good things and not many bad things but the bad things that she did were too significant to overcome her credibility over the good things that she did…such as preventing the Homeland Security from “securing our borders” and something about that defense bill, which allowed the Senate Dems to move forward with their ObamaCare bill.

  6. lurker9876 says:

    And I wish they wouldn’t pressure Perry into nominating someone else over Michael Williams. We need him in Congress to disprove those far left wings that we are NOT racists!

    Besides, he’s a conservative with a lot of charisma…withOUT a teleprompter!

  7. lurker9876 says:

    Speaking about that Constellation program…so much for the untruths spread by the media to mislead the American public into thinking that all NASA work is done by NASA AND the cost overruns when there isn’t much of a real cost overruns.

    Most of the technical work is done by private sector for NASA…no different from what Bolden wants to do with SpaceX.

    The rockets are being built by Boeing. And Boeing has many, many excellent engineers that are hired to solve problems with those rockets. Let them do the work. Ultimately, they will make the right rocket, Ares 1 or something else.

    Cost overruns? Congress has not been giving NASA the sufficient funds to run their various programs, causing NASA to prolong the Constellation program.

    No private companies could continue with their space programs unless they are bringing in the profits. No private companies will build a space vehicle and rockets according to NASA’s safety specifications.

    As for that 50 million dollars to fund those private companies, another bad decision.

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