It is hard to argue that President Obama was swept into office in 2008 riding on anything other than a wave of Bush hatred. Obama was different. Obama was hope. Obama was going to be change. I find it very ironic, then, every time the realities of being President of the United States shake the foundations of this crumbling fantasy.
Remember how the Obama administration was going to close Gitmo? How terrorists were going to be tried in criminal trials and not military tribunals? According to Washington Post, that's one more area where Hope'n'Change has been shelved and Obama has turned to the Bush playbook once again.
Khalid Sheik Mohammed, the self-proclaimed mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, will probably remain in military detention without trial for the foreseeable future, according to Obama administration officials.The last paragraph is telling. This is what you would have to describe as a lose-lose-lose situation. Pushing an ultra-liberal approach to terrorist trials would upset middle of the country and given the results of the midterms, that's something Obama can ill-afford. Strike one. Not carrying through on yet one more campaign promise will upset the far left and spur another round of "Obama has lost his magic" editorials and blog posts. Strike two. The far right is just going to point fingers and say I-told-you-so. Strike three.The administration has concluded that it cannot put Mohammed on trial in federal court because of the opposition of lawmakers in Congress and in New York. There is also little internal support for resurrecting a military prosecution at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The latter option would alienate liberal supporters.
The administration asserts that it can hold Mohammed and other al-Qaeda operatives under the laws of war, a principle that has been upheld by the courts when Guantanamo Bay detainees have challenged their detention.
The White House has made it clear that President Obama will ultimately make the decision, and a federal prosecution of Mohammed and four alleged co-conspirators has not been ruled out, senior officials said. Still, they acknowledge that a trial is unlikely to happen before the next presidential election and, even then, would require a different political environment.
It would seem the best approach--and the one Obama is going to take--is to just lock KSM away without a trial of any sort and hope people on all sides forget about him. Can you imagine the outcry if President Bush has come to the same conclusion?
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Comments (9)
But Dan, Barry is a 'Consti... (Below threshold)1. Posted by GarandFan | November 14, 2010 12:50 PM | Score: 3 (3 votes cast)
But Dan, Barry is a 'Constitutional Law Scholar'. Unlike Bush, Barry KNOWS what he's doing. Hahahahahahaha!!!!!!!
1. Posted by GarandFan | November 14, 2010 12:50 PM |
Score: 3 (3 votes cast)
Posted on November 14, 2010 12:50
2. Posted by hcddbz | November 14, 2010 12:58 PM | Score: 1 (1 votes cast)
The said part is we had conviction and all that was left was sentencing.
BHO took a clear cut prosecution and tried to create a show trail and has failed but when your top advisors represent terrorist as criminals it hard for people to see clearly.
2. Posted by hcddbz | November 14, 2010 12:58 PM |
Score: 1 (1 votes cast)
Posted on November 14, 2010 12:58
3. Posted by jim m | November 14, 2010 1:02 PM | Score: 1 (1 votes cast)
The fierce moral urgency of same.
3. Posted by jim m | November 14, 2010 1:02 PM |
Score: 1 (1 votes cast)
Posted on November 14, 2010 13:02
4. Posted by Trump | November 14, 2010 1:44 PM | Score: 3 (3 votes cast)
Time for Galoob and the rest of the liberals to apologize to Pres. Bush...
4. Posted by Trump | November 14, 2010 1:44 PM |
Score: 3 (3 votes cast)
Posted on November 14, 2010 13:44
5. Posted by retired military | November 14, 2010 2:07 PM | Score: 4 (4 votes cast)
Hay Galoob how about GITMO being closed in a year?
Obama lied
Terrorists chances of freedom died.
5. Posted by retired military | November 14, 2010 2:07 PM |
Score: 4 (4 votes cast)
Posted on November 14, 2010 14:07
6. Posted by Tsar Nicholas II | November 14, 2010 2:55 PM | Score: 2 (2 votes cast)
Reality to a leftist is sort of like garlic to a vampire.
6. Posted by Tsar Nicholas II | November 14, 2010 2:55 PM |
Score: 2 (2 votes cast)
Posted on November 14, 2010 14:55
7. Posted by galoob | November 14, 2010 5:46 PM | Score: -2 (2 votes cast)
Do contributors here read the blog prior to posting?
This seems to have been covered in JT's immediately preceding post.
7. Posted by galoob | November 14, 2010 5:46 PM |
Score: -2 (2 votes cast)
Posted on November 14, 2010 17:46
8. Posted by GarandFan | November 14, 2010 6:13 PM | Score: 3 (3 votes cast)
"Do contributors here read the blog prior to posting?"
Sorry galoob. They don't have a 'central control' for writers - like you have on the left. Where everyone decides on what the 'theme of the day' is and what DNC talking points to shill.
8. Posted by GarandFan | November 14, 2010 6:13 PM |
Score: 3 (3 votes cast)
Posted on November 14, 2010 18:13
9. Posted by افلام سكس | December 17, 2010 2:21 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
What a wonderful idea. I am not totally sure if that is true, but who knows. Would you be kind enough to write another post, but from the opposing vantage point
9. Posted by افلام سكس | December 17, 2010 2:21 PM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on December 17, 2010 14:21