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May 23, 2013
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 The GOP’s Double Standard on Terror TrialsPosted on Feb 10, 2010By Joe Conason Preparing for what they hope will be their return to power in Washington, Republican congressional leaders have revived the fear-mongering and flag-flapping used by Karl Rove to win the 2002 midterm elections. Like the former White House deputy, forever known to his boss as “Turd Blossom,” the right-wing strategists on Capitol Hill feel no shame in arousing the basest of emotions among their base. Now when the Republicans insist that they are the only true patriots, the most fervent defenders of the Constitution and the sharpest counterterror strategists, however, those hysterical claims should be tested against the facts with calm and candor. The first instance is the controversy over the upcoming trial of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, indicted for plotting the Sept. 11 terror attack along with four accomplices and slated for trial in a federal courthouse, and the decision to prosecute “underpants bomber” Umar Abdulmutallab as a criminal defendant. Leaving aside the logistics and costs of any public trial—because the city of New York will remain the most tempting target for jihadists no matter where any trial occurs—Republican critics charge the Obama administration with compromising national security. That complaint would deserve more respect if only they had voiced the same concerns when the Bush administration was pursuing precisely the same course of action. But as partisans whose only purpose is to undermine their political adversaries, regardless of the effect on American prestige and national security, these roaring elephants were as silent as little mice back then. Advertisement As reporter Jane Mayer explains in the current issue of The New Yorker, despite all the tough talk about “enemy combatants” and military commissions, the Bush administration almost always indicted terror suspects as criminals and tried them in federal courts. Statistics compiled by New York University’s Center on Law and Security show that since 9/11, the criminal justice system has convicted around 150 suspects on terrorism indictments, and dozens more on broader national security violations. That contrasts with only three Guantánamo detainees, apprehended overseas, who have been convicted in military commissions at the island prison camp. Among the civilian defendants sent to prison for life were Richard Reid, the “shoe bomber” who tried to bring down a civilian passenger jet, much like Abdulmutallab, and Zacarias Moussaoui, the so-called 20th conspirator of the Sept. 11 attacks. “When the Bush Justice Department obtained these convictions,” Mayer notes, “the process was celebrated by some of the same people” who are now assaulting the patriotism and judgment of Attorney General Eric Holder for his efforts to do the same thing. She quotes Rudolph Giuliani, who said after the Moussaoui conviction: “I was in awe of our system. It does demonstrate that we can give people a fair trial.” Simply because a Democrat now occupies the Oval Office, no doubt the former New York mayor will be deployed between now and November to denounce the very thing that he held in awe. But Giuliani was right. A fair trial is the American way. A fair trial is what the Constitution provides for every criminal suspect apprehended on our soil, at the very least—which is why the Bush White House, knowing that the courts would uphold those traditional liberties, decided to honor them despite its authoritarian leanings. A fair trial is the way to prove that we aren’t afraid of al-Qaida and that, when captured, its members will be held accountable by the civilization they wish to destroy. Our public officials take an oath to uphold the Constitution because that is the best way to protect the nation. From its first days, the Obama administration has sought to fulfill that pledge with a combination of judicial prosecutions and military force, with indictments and aerial drone strikes. The prosecutions have forced several defendants to cooperate, including Abdulmutallab, and the drones—albeit at a terrible cost in civilian casualties—have badly disrupted al-Qaida. Whatever the wisdom of Obama’s policies, he is honestly trying to protect both the country and the Constitution. It is too bad the same cannot be said of his unscrupulous adversaries. Joe Conason writes for The New York Observer. © 2010 Creators.com  TAGS:
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By Paul J. Theis, February 14, 2010 at 4:18 pm Link to this comment
Wait until Sarah Palin learns about this double standard! There goes half of her stump speech.
Report thisBy MarthaA, February 13, 2010 at 8:33 am Link to this comment
The Republicans always blame their shortcomings off on the Democrats. Since when is blaming Republican shortcoming off on Democrats anything new, or fun?
What would be new and fun would be to see the Democrats wean themselves from their corporate Republican sucking and stand up and represent the populace of the United States. If the Democrats would ever actually stand up for the populace, the populace would stand up for the Democrats, but if the nation is going to be a corporate aristocracy sanctioned by the Democrats, it doesn’t matter whether Republican or Democrat, as neither represent the populace, but the Democratic Party was intended to represent the populace.
Professor Jeff Cohen unvarnishes the truth in the following urls relative to the populace and the elite:
Progressives and the Democratic Party - Part 1:
http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=4775
Progressives and the Democratic Party - Part 2:
http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=4783
Progressives and the Democratic Party - Part 3:
http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=4786
Progressives and the Democratic Party - Part 4:
http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=4787
(corrected url on Part 3)
Report thisBy MarthaA, February 13, 2010 at 7:45 am Link to this comment
The Republicans always blame their shortcomings off on the Democrats. Since when is blaming Republican shortcoming off on Democrats anything new, or fun?
What would be new and fun would be to see the Democrats wean themselves from their corporate Republican sucking and stand up and represent the populace of the United States. If the Democrats would ever actually stand up for the populace, the populace would stand up for the Democrats, but if the nation is going to be a corporate aristocracy sanctioned by the Democrats, it doesn’t matter whether Republican or Democrat, as neither represent the populace, but the Democratic Party was intended to represent the populace.
Professor Jeff Cohen unvarnishes the truth in the following urls relative to the populace and the elite:
Progressives and the Democratic Party - Part 1:
http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=4775
Progressives and the Democratic Party - Part 2:
http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=4783
Progressives and the Democratic Party - Part 3:
http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=4786
Progressives and the Democratic Party - Part 4:
Report thishttp://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=4787
By The Old Hooligan, February 12, 2010 at 7:13 pm Link to this comment
I don’t begrudge the Republicans their fear-mongering tactics; indeed, it’s all they ever have to offer. And if Sarah Palin runs against Obama in ‘12 and actually wins, it will be such good fun to watch the Republicans try to blame her subsequent failings on the Democrats.
Report thisBy Mike, February 11, 2010 at 10:50 am Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)
Since politicians just want to get elected and will do anything to do so, this behavior is not unexpected. The real question is whether or not it is credible to the collective electorate. Unfortunately, I think it is to a nation of mush-brain TV watchers.
The real problem is that there are only two parties; if you’re discontent with those in power, your only choice is to return the previous incompetents to office.
As far as defending the nation, it was Bush and company that missed 911.
Report thisBy MarthaA, February 11, 2010 at 10:07 am Link to this comment
Actually, one can’t base anything on what Rudolph Giuliani says. After 8 1/2 years Rudy Giuliani has found nothing but some more subjective WMD type make believe artifacts to start a big controversy and get the conversation off anything that would be of objective benefit to the nations populace.
Report thisBy bozh, February 11, 2010 at 9:26 am Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)
How many ‘fair’ trials were not held for people who killed blacks or owened slaves and for resisting by war their release?
Were japanese interned after ‘fair’ trials were held for each condemned person?
And isn’t a rich person’s trial by far ‘fairer’ than that of a poor person. tnx
Report thisBy thecrow, February 11, 2010 at 8:33 am Link to this comment
Like Rudy, I am “in awe of our system”:
http://michaelfury.wordpress.com/2008/08/16/black-box/
Report thisBy FRTothus, February 11, 2010 at 7:22 am Link to this comment
The author of this article presumes facts not in evidence, and facts open to opinion, namely:
“who tried to bring down a civilian passenger jet,...”
This was the crime the (tortured) accused was adjudged to have comitted. There are serious problems of fact and evidence in this “case” (of confession under torture, chain of evidence, etc.) and therefore its ruling.
“...much like Abdulmutallab”
A very embarassing affair for the US, as it has many of the fingerprints of (yet another) black op; the flying without passport or luggage, paying cash for the ticket, being refused entry at the gate, a “well-dressed Arab man” coming to the rescue, and getting him on-board. I am unclear on the other published facts, testimony that the boy was being filmed mid-flight by this same man, but something is rotten in the State of Denmark.
The US is quick to allege whatever it wants. It rarely makes it true. A (forced) confession has great political and courtroom mileage. The State is the problem, and its courts are untrustworthy.
Rudolph Giuliani was and is in awe of the idea of Justice and under its spell believing the myth that a trial in or by the US is the same as a fair trial. He admires the institution of Justice, but is willfully blind to its workings. His salary and ambition for power blinds him.
The US still hasn’t sorted out JFK, come clean with that, but like so many other shocks along the way, we have come to see them as they really are: Black Ops, many of them, but we know them by their patterns of action, how they operate. Gulf of Tonkin, RFK’s point-blank shot to the back of the head, Dr.King’s keystone cop play, the camera on the moon landing, Vigilant Guardian and 9*11 and the Terror War, it’s all manufactured for our amusment and distraction from the task of self-government. Our government lies to us. It is usually the opposite of what they say, I have found.
Report thisBy MarthaA, February 11, 2010 at 6:38 am Link to this comment
The REPUBLICANS and the REPUBLICANS-Lite are crippling our government. The populace will have to reclaim the government for democracy, but it can’t be done through the REPUBLICAN PARTY. As long as the populace think reclaiming our government comes through the Right-Wing REPUBLICAN PARTY, the government will never be reclaimed, as the Right is the King.
The government can only be reclaimed by the populace through the Left, the populace, and the Left’s party, the Democratic Party.
Report thisBy ardee, February 11, 2010 at 3:41 am Link to this comment
As to the GOP strategy, complete negativism and lack of any cooperative efforts to move this nation forward, it is working so why would they change? As neither Party is motivated by any concern for this nation, only the concern for their own restoration to power, we see a government crippled, uninspired, and uninspiring.
One sign for those who still worship at the altar of Obama; His appearance before the GOP was a masterstroke in which he clearly humiliated the GOP, thus his attempt to do it again with a televised bipartisan meeting re: health care. I wonder if the Repugs are stupid enough to accept?
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