Idiotic decision to try terrorists in nYC

WSJ Sat Nov 14
"The decision to bring the alleged plotters to a New York City courtroom sparked criticism on a number of fronts, ranging from concerns about security to worries about baring state secrets. It marks only the beginning in a series of logistical, constitutional and political challenges that remain for the government. The accused have been held for years without charge, and some were subjected to harsh interrogations, including the use of waterboarding, a technique that simulates drowning. A judge will have to decide whether statements made under those conditions are admissible in court. Messrs. Obama and Holder have called waterboarding torture...
Critics called the move to hold civilian trials an unnecessary and dangerous gamble.

"Classified information can be inadvertently leaked," said Mitch McConnell, the top Republican in the Senate. "Our cities will face enormous security problems. And our communities will be potential targets for attack."
Navy Lt. Cdr. Stephen Reyes, the lawyer for Mr. Nashiri, said "The decision today was legally unsound. The real reason why the government chose to go to a commission was to ensure a conviction through otherwise inadmissible evidence."
The decision to try some detainees in criminal court and others in military tribunals raised criticism of the Obama administration from both sides of the political spectrum.

Anthony Romero, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union, which has spent $4 million on the defense of terror detainees, hailed the criminal trials for 9/11 detainees, but said using military commissions for other detainees "does raise the question of whether they are forum-shopping to ensure the desired outcome."

Michael Mukasey, the judge who presided over the 1995 trial that convicted Omar Abdel Rahman, the so-called "Blind Sheik" in a terror plot, said criminal courts were a bad choice for trying the alleged 9/11 plotters. He said the decision represented a turn from the Bush administration's war footing to a "Sept. 10, 2001" mentality.

"The plan seems to abandon the view that we are involved in a war," said Mr. Mukasey, who was also the attorney general under President George W. Bush, in a Washington speech.