For those of you who weren’t yet born on September 11, 2001, on that day Islamic jihadis killed nearly 3,000 Americans in attacks on the Twin Towers and the Pentagon. A third plane was set to murder even more people by crashing into another landmark in Washington, but it was downed in Pennsylvania by its passengers in order to thwart the jihadis’ plans. Even those who don’t remember the day have probably learned about it in school, but few people are aware of the fact that the surviving plotters have not yet been brought to trial.
That is now set to change on January 11, 2021, the day that Air Force Colonel W. Shane Cohen has just set the trial to begin at Camp Justice, at Guantánamo Bay in Cuba.
Why has it taken nearly twenty years for these jihadis to face justice? Largely because of Barack Obama.
The trial will take place nearly nine years after the plotters – Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, Walid bin Attash, Ramzi bin al-Shibh, Ammar al-Baluchi, and Mustafa al-Hawsawi – were arraigned. The Daily Mail reported that “Cohen’s announcement marks the first time that a trial judge in the case actually established a date. Prosecutors had tried to get the ball rolling with two previous judges after the 2012 arraignment.”
The trial will also begin nearly twelve years after Khalid Shaikh Mohammed and the others for all intents and purposes admitted their role in the 9/11 jihad attacks, penning a lengthy Islamic defense for their actions in which they never denied plotting the hijacking of planes in order to commit mass murder of American civilians, but justified their actions by claiming that the U.S. was the greater terrorist. They signed the document “the 9/11 Shura Council.”
This was not a document obtained under torture, but a closely reasoned explanation of why the 9/11 attacks were justified from the standpoint of Islamic doctrine and belief.
“Issues blocking earlier possible dates,” according to the Daily Mail, “included finding out the proper security clearance needed to review documents pertinent to al-Baluchi’s confession to FBI agents.” That may have been among the considerations behind this immense delay, but the same Daily Mail report gives a more telling clue as to what went on to keep this case from coming to trial when it notes that “the case was also delayed when President Barack Obama suspended the war court, in an attempt to add more protections for due process.”
How was due process ever under threat? These men signed their names to a document that essentially admitted their complicity in planning the attacks. But that apparently cut no ice with our sainted and infallible former president.
What’s more, “Obama also attempted to try the group in a federal court in New York City, a proposal that was met with protest and legislation to block it.”
Trying these men in civilian court would have been a continuation of the U.S. government policy of treating jihadis as if they were individual criminals, rather than soldiers in a larger war effort. The U.S. government has been extremely reluctant to admit that such a war exists, and so their policy has been to try jihadis in civilian courts.
They will be tried ,convicted & sentenced to TIME SERVED !!!!!!
When they go on Trial Obama should go on Trial as well for delaying Justice give him Life revoke his Peace Prize
Under the order of Barack Obama, jurisdiction of the accused was transferred to the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York in preparation for trial. Eric Holder announced it was the intention of the government to seek the death penalty.
That effort was blocked by congressional republicans, who inserted a provision into the National Defense Authorization Act that specifically prohibited the use of any funds budgeted for the DoD to move the accused to the United States, or any other country; it also barred the use of any such funds to provide the high security facilities necessary to hold the accused during their trials. Thus they put Obama in the position of either accepting those terms—which essentially made the trial impossible—or failing to sign the bill that was necessary to fund the U.S. military during the coming year.
So, it was Congressional republicans who prevented the trial that likely would have put the accused on death row years ago and left them in limbo in Guantanamo.
At least the Obama Administration successfully hunted down and eliminated Osama bin Laden—something that the preceding administration hadn’t managed to accomplish after 7 years. He never should have escaped from Tora Bora. Obama also waged a prolonged campaign of drone strikes that eliminated the majority of Al Qaeda’s upper level cadre in the field without the inconvenience of trials. Republicans also attacked him repeatedly for that, while failing to act on his Request for Authorization to Use Military Force against ISIS. They like to blame him for ISIS, too.
Trump has been in office nearly 3 years. Now we’re suddenly hearing that a trial has been scheduled, but another year down the road. It will begin just 10 days before the next presidential inauguration day. Make of the curious timing whatever you wish. Trump will likely try to make something of it as the election approaches.
@Greg:
contrary to your view on osama bin laden, under your radicalized muslin pres terrorist, unknown to him, several covert agencies tailed laden daily. the removal of a target such as this is a timed event that fits the policies of the administration. the terrorist obama was clueless in the final operation
@Greg: Oh oh…
Nuh-uh! It’s the Republicans, not Obama!
@MOS # 8541, #4:
Perhaps that explains bin Laden’s escape from Tora Bora, followed by a loss of interest in bringing him to justice. As long as the matter of bin Laden was unresolved and 9/11 was unavenged, it was far easier to justify unrelated military action of greater interest to the administration—namely, the second invasion of Iraq. That was on the neocon To Do List before 9/11 presented the opportunity.
Obama was more interested in keeping Muslims from being associated with the terrorism their radical elements committed than seeing justice served. We saw, in fact, that justice, laws and the Constitution meant very little to Obama, Democrats and the left.
Obama didn’t want the terrorists tried by a military court; justice might be served there and the terrorists convicted. Obama wanted them to get Constitutional protections, evidence tossed and the terrorists exonerated, proving the US DESERVED the attacks.
@Greg:
The majority of al Qaeda’s ORIGINAL leadership were either killed or captured after OEF and before 2009.
There is such a thing as “continuity of government” and the U.S. military and intelligence agencies have worked across 2 and now 3 administrations to continue fighting those who wish to do our country harm in the name of religious fervor and radicalism.
Sorry that things don’t come with expiration dates and world-stage problems and wars don’t come to a neat, tidy ending on the same timeline as our presidential elections.
The effort, intell, infrastructure, and tools developed to killing OBL began under Bush and came to its conclusion under Obama. Even Obama acknowledged this.
@Greg:
The capture or killing of OBL never stopped being a top priority for Bush. It was a public relations statement that was inartfully said and became political fodder to be spun by Democrats.
Surely you’re bright enough to take off the partisan blinders for one solid minute and deduce why Bush said what he did at the time he said it?
The reasons are similar to why Bush said:
It’s larger than any one individual. A figurehead. It’s larger than KSM and Zarqawi.
@Greg:
He also killed hundreds of civilians, women and children, which al Qaeda used for recruiting. His soldier-endangering rules of engagement did not apply to him. HE picked the targets.
@Wordsmith:
Um… no. I have actually explained before that Bush would not admit publicly that bin Laden was driving us nuts and that, hopefully, the impression he was not the focus would cause him to make a mistake and reveal his location. Had the search actually ended or slacked off under Bush, Obama would never have had the opportunity to fret for 16 hours after he had bin Laden’s address whether or not he should go get him. And Biden wouldn’t have had the opportunity to OPPOSE killing bin Laden.