11/18/09

A comprehensive strategy and architecture to bring terrorists to justice should be a source of national pride – not fear-mongering. Whether it’s making inane assertions that terrorists will kidnap Mayor Bloomberg’s daughter, or claiming that Illinois will become ground zero for terrorist attacks and jihad recruitment, conservatives are simply unhinged when it comes to combating terror. But while they demonize our judicial system and lambast the ability of the men and women of our prison and law enforcement systems to keep our communities safe, they neglect the fact that trying terrorists in civilian courts—and following the rule of law—is one of our best strategies for combating violent extremism. Pursuing this takes critical recruitment tools away from the terrorists, brings us allies and partners around the world, and underscores the foundations of our democracy that separates America from its enemies. This was best summed up by 9/11 widow Kristen Breitweiser, who said: “To be clear, the only danger posed by prosecuting men like KSM in an open court in New York is the red alert it poses to the Republican Party's faltering reputation in fighting their ‘war on terror.’”  

It is clear that the task of developing a comprehensive strategy to detain and try terrorists is not easy –President Obama admitted as much when he acknowledged yesterday that his administration would miss the January deadline it set to close the Guantanamo Bay military detention facility. But it is more important to get this policy right than to rush and make mistakes. In contrast to the previous Administration’s ad hoc actions, the Obama administration is taking a careful and methodical approach to right these wrongs. This strategy will finally bring those who attacked us on 9/11 to justice, strengthen our global struggle against extremists and terrorists, and reinforce the laws and Constitution that are the foundation of our democracy.

While progressives support bringing terrorists to justice, extreme conservatives hyperventilate.  Since the Justice Department’s announcement that it will try the 9/11 conspirators in federal courts in New York, and the news that the Obama administration is considering shifting Guantanamo Bay detainees to a maximum security facility in Illinois, conservatives have unleashed a torrent of hyperbolic attacks.  Just yesterday, Rep. John Shadegg (R – AZ) indulged in the worst kind of fear mongering, responding to New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s support of the trials by saying “Well, Mayor, how are you going to feel when it's your daughter that's kidnapped at school by a terrorist? How are you going to feel when it's some clerk -- some innocent clerk of the court -- whose daughter or son is kidnapped? Or the jailer's little brother or little sister?” According to coverage in Politico, “Bloomberg spokesman Stu Loeser said he wouldn't ‘dignify’ Shadegg's remark with a comment.”  Shadegg’s remarks were just the later in a pattern of vitriolic distortions, which distract from bringing terrorists to justice:

• Conservative Myth: Obama administration’s plans for imprisoning terrorist suspects in the U.S. makes us less safe.  Over the weekend, Rep. David Manzullo (R – IL) and Senate candidate Mark Steven Kirk wrote, with fear-mongering rhetoric, that “[a]s home to America’s tallest building, we should not invite Al Qaeda to make Illinois its No. 1 target.” [NY Times, 11/16/09]

Reality: The U.S. has a stellar record of safely keeping hardened terrorists behind bars.  In 2007, 60 Minutes reported on the Supermax federal prison in Florence, Colorado, which holds dozens of terrorists who were convicted in civilian court, including: Zacarias Moussaoui, the alleged "20th hijacker" in the September 11, 2001 attacks; Ramzi Yusef and Omar Abdel-Rahman, convicted for masterminding the first World Trade Center attack; and Richard Reid, the so-called shoe bomber. According to the former warden there, “Most prisoners spend up to 23 hours a day in their cells, every minute, every meal.” [60 Minutes, 8/14/07]

• Conservative Myth: Trials will be a propaganda vehicle for Al-Qaeda. “The suspects are going to "make it a circus and use it as a platform to push their ideology.” [Rep. Peter Hoekstra (R – MI), Voice of America News, 11/15/09]

Reality: America’s best legal traditions will “put Jihad on trial.”  Writing in the New York Times today, Council on Foreign Relations counterterrorism expert Steven Simon writes: “Historically, the public exposure of state-sponsored mass murder or terrorism through a transparent judicial process has strengthened the forces of good and undercut the extremists. The Nuremberg trials were a classic case. And nothing more effectively alerted the world to the danger of genocide than Israel’s prosecution in 1961 of Adolf Eichmann, the bureaucrat who engineered the Holocaust.” [Steven Simon, 11/18/09]

• Conservative Myth: Trying terrorists in federal courts gives them the advantage: Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani criticized the plan to try 9/11 conspirators, including Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, saying on CNN’s State of the Union that “It gives an unnecessary advantage to the terrorists and why would you want to give an advantage to the terrorists, and it poses risks for New York.” [Rudy Giuliani, via the NY Times, 11/16/09]

Reality: Federal courts are one of America’s best tools for bringing terrorists to justice.  A 2009 report by Human Rights First written by a team of former federal prosecutors found that “of the 214 defendants whose cases were resolved as of June 2, 2009, 195 were convicted either by verdict or by a guilty plea.  This is a conviction rate of 91.121%.” [Human Rights First, 7/23/09]

• Conservative Myth: 9/11 terrorists tried in New York will be found not guilty. “The possibility that Khalid Sheik Mohammed and his co-conspirators could be found ‘not guilty’ due to some legal technicality just blocks from Ground Zero should give every American pause.”[Rep. John Boehner (R – OH), Press Release, 11/13/09]

Reality: New York City Courts have never acquitted anyone of terrorist charges.  According to NYU’s center on Law and Security, New York City courts have a zero acquittal rate for terrorism cases. [NYU, 9/11/08]

[Rep. John Shadegg (R-AZ), via Politico, 11/17/09]

Closing Guantanamo was never an easy task, especially due to the legal and international problems Bush left behind. Today the Washington Post reports that “President Obama directly acknowledged for the first time Wednesday that the prison facility at Guantanamo Bay will not close by the January deadline he set, but he said he hoped to still achieve that goal sometime next year... Obama came to office pledging to shut a detainee facility that had become a symbol for prisoner abuse at the hands of American officials.” However, “[t]here was also a tangle of legal issues involving what to do with suspected terrorists who had been tortured in prison in a way that jeopardized the integrity of the evidence against them, or who for other reasons could not stand trial.” As Ken Gude further explains in a recent report for the Center for American Progress, “The Bush administration created a prison camp specifically designed to exist outside the reach of the law. It did so because what it intended to do was transparently illegal: torture, indefinite detention, and show trials that made a mockery of justice.”

When the Bush administration left office, its military tribunal system had managed to convict only three terrorists – none of whom have been senior level operatives. Meanwhile, civilian courts had achieved almost 200 terrorism convictions since 9/11.  Perpetrators of terrorist attacks against America could have been in federal court, facing justice, long ago. [Washington Post, 11/18/09. Ken Gude, CAP, 11/09. Wall Street Journal, 7/24/08. NY Times, 11/3/08. The Constitution Project, 10/28/09]

The Obama administration, progressives, and local leaders are actively working to bring terrorists to justice, using every military and law enforcement resource available.  
Today, in his testimony before the Senate Judiciary, Attorney General Eric Holder explained the administration’s stance very clearly, saying “We are at war, and we will use every instrument of national power – civilian, military, law enforcement, intelligence, diplomatic, and others – to win. We need not cower in the face of this enemy. Our institutions are strong, our infrastructure is sturdy, our resolve is firm, and our people are ready.”  So far the administration has taken multiple concrete steps:

• Civilian trials for those who targeted civilians showcase the strength of our institutions.  The New York Times reported that, “The Obama administration said Friday that it would prosecute Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the self-described mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks, in a Manhattan federal courtroom, a decision that ignited a sharp political debate but took a step toward resolving one of the most pressing terrorism detention issues.”  [NY Times, 11/13/09]
• Secure U.S. facility identified to house detainees. ABC News reports that, “A prison complex 150 miles from Chicago has emerged as the leading contender to house detainees currently being held at Guantanamo Bay, senior administration officials tell ABC News.  Officials from the Pentagon and the Federal Bureau of Prisons will soon visit lllinois' Thomson Correctional Center to inspect the maximum security prison, which was opened in 2001 but has never been fully utilized because of state budget issues.” [ABC News, 11/14/09]
• Military trials for suspects who planned attacks against U.S. military overseas.  The Washington Post reports that “[t]he administration directed toward military commissions suspects who are believed to have carried out or plotted terrorist acts overseas against military targets. Among the five are Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, accused of coordinating the deadly attack on the USS Cole in 2000.” [Washington Post, 11/14/09]
• An overhaul of Afghan detention facilities to prevent Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib scandals from recurring.  The Washington Post reports that “By the end of the month, the U.S. military plans to begin moving the first of its approximately 700 detainees at Bagram air field to a new $60 million holding complex in an attempt to provide better living conditions and separate committed fighters from those who are ready to re-enter Afghan society.” [Washington Post, 11/16/09]

Local leaders and citizens in the areas most affected by these decisions know that America’s criminal justice system can handle it.  The Associated Press reports that New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg “said Friday, ‘It is fitting that 9/11 suspects face justice near the World Trade Center site where so many New Yorkers were murdered.’ And New York Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly said holding the trial in the city most devastated by the 2001 attack is appropriate, and he pronounced the Police Department prepared to meet any security challenge.”  Meanwhile, in Thomson, Illinois, “News that the federal government seems interested in transferring detainees from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to the Thomson Correctional Center was greeted warmly in this small, rural farm town along the Iowa border.” Reports, Chicago Breaking News.  And The Chicago Tribune quoted one calm local resident:  “’I don't want (enemy combatants) walking the street, so they have to go some place,’ said Harris, 64. ‘Might as well come here.’”  [AP, 11/16/09. Chicago Breaking News, 11/14/09. Chicago Tribune, 11/14/09. Eric Holder, 11/18/09]

What We’re Reading

As the Pakistani military begins to lift its ban of reporters from South Waziristan, the Obama administration looks to advances made by the Pakistani army as possibly affecting its own decision on troop levels in Afghanistan.  A new Washington Post-ABC poll shows a majority of Americans say they think that President Obama will come up with a successful strategy for Afghanistan.

Kurdish officials in Iraq threatened to boycott the upcoming election in the three provinces they control unless more parliamentary seats are allocated to the region. Iraqi Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi vetoed the recently passed election law and said he had objected to a clause in the law that gives only 5 percent of the seats in Parliament to minorities and Iraqi refugees abroad.

The death of a military doctor who served in an Iranian detention center sparks renewed scrutiny of the role that detention centers had in torturing opposition protesters this past summer following Iran’s contested presidential election.

President Obama’s final stop on his tour of East Asia will be South Korea.

Army Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Peter W. Chiarelli has highlighted an alarmingly high suicide rate in the Army: this year alone, 140 active and 71 inactive soldiers were suspected of having committed suicide.

Venezuela President Hugo Chavez finds his petrodollar-fueled populist policies at risk. President Chavez also said this month that his country should prepare for war with its neighbor Colombia, due to the leasing of  military bases to the United States to assist in counter-narcotics efforts.

Israeli officials announced a plan to build 900 homes in a disputed neighborhood of Jerusalem, provoking criticism from the Obama administration and Palestinians.

The first American-flagged ship seized by pirates last April, the Maersk Alabama, was attacked again by pirates in the Indian Ocean.

Commentary of the Day

Bruce Newsome wonders whether democracies in the 21st century will be able to muster allies and funding for major military campaigns like they did for World War II and the Cold War.

Thomas Friedman argues that climate change deniers miss a critical fact: foreign energy consumption is increasingly mirroring our own, and therefore, the urgency on America to act is greater than they anticipate.  

Senator John Kerry met with the editorial board of USA Today, and explained why he supports President Obama’s deliberate review of policy options for Afghanistan.