Obama On Terror Trials: KSM Will Die

Justice in the "Post-9/11 World." - Jon

Source: politico.com

11/18/2009

Americans who are troubled by the decision to send alleged Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed to New York for trial will feel better about it when he’s put to death, President Barack Obama said Tuesday.

During a round of network television interviews conducted during Obama’s visit to China, the president was asked about those who find it offensive that Mohammed will receive all the rights normally accorded to U.S. citizens when they are charged with a crime.

“I don't think it will be offensive at all when he's convicted and when the death penalty is applied to him,” Obama told NBC’s Chuck Todd.

When Todd asked Obama if he was interfering in the trial process by declaring that Mohammed will be executed, Obama, a former constitutional law professor, insisted that he wasn’t trying to dictate the result.

“What I said was, people will not be offended if that's the outcome. I'm not pre-judging, I'm not going to be in that courtroom, that's the job of prosecutors, the judge and the jury,” Obama said. “What I'm absolutely clear about is that I have complete confidence in the American people and our legal traditions and the prosecutors, the tough prosecutors from New York who specialize in terrorism.”

In another interview, Obama said he had not tried to tell Attorney General Eric Holder whether the case involving KSM and four other alleged 9/11 plotters should be heard in federal court or before a military tribunal.

“I said to the attorney general, make a decision based on the law,” the president told CNN’s Ed Henry. “We have set up now a military commission system that is greatly reformed and so we can try terrorists in the forum. But I also have great confidence in our Article 3 courts, the courts that have tried hundreds of terrorist suspects who are imprisoned right now in the United States.”

Obama also suggested that critics of the decision are unwisely building the alleged Al Qaeda operatives into larger-than-life figures who require the U.S. to abandon its usual legal processes.

“I think this notion that somehow we have to be fearful, that these terrorists are –possess some special powers that prevent us from presenting evidence against them, locking them up and, you know, exacting swift justice, I think that has been a fundamental mistake,” the president declared.

SICK

darkbeforedawn
Most people will NOT feel better....they will feel disgusted. At least most people I know.
A man is put to death because he confessed to crimes while his children were being tortured......a real "feel good" moment for Americans everywhere....

On a different note, Jon, have you noticed how messed up the front page is??? Do other people see a confused front page or is it just me?

It will be a shameful moment in our history..

After we've waterboarded him 186 times and then put on some dog and pony show of a trial and then commit him death? It should be happening to Dick Cheney, not him.

Confused front? Not sure what you're seeing dbd but it looks like it always does to me. I'm running ie7, but I checked it with firefox too and it was fine.

peace

dtg
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May we, in our dealings with all the peoples of the earth, ever speak the truth and serve justice.
Dwight D. Eisenhower

blogger front page

darkbeforedawn
may have something to do with Mozilla. I received an e-mail from another reader here who uses Mozilla it is messed up for him to. The pictures and text of the articles run into the "recent headlines" sections on the left of the page. There, the text of the articles is obscured for the most part. A centering problem?

Guess most folks aren't seeing it...

mozilla

I see it bad with mozilla too. Its bad only after video posts

...

I use Mozilla. The front page looks fine to me. Same as ever. Must be some other problem.

A fair # of the Brainwashed masses will be just fine with it

Some will see it as some kind of closure. For those that see it that way there will be a guilt reaction if they are confronted with evidence that 9/11 was an inside job. That will make them very hostile to any reinvestigation. Psychologically it will work that way at least for some.

This is based on what I have seen. Omar's connection to 9/11 is tenuous at best but the hatred for him is vile. Omar Khadr was 15 when he was captured. He is charged with the killing of an American soldier, Sgt. Christopher Speer, who died during an attack against a remote compound in Afghanistan in 2002. The charge against Khadr, offered with no ironic acknowledgment, is "war crimes."

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/edmonton/story/2009/11/16/edmonton-rally-church...

I am appalled with the whole situation.

Problems here too.

I'm getting a messed up page too. Running Firefox.
All's fine on pg 2 but pg 1 on both news and blogs the posts overlap (underlap) onto the ads and info on the left side of the page.
Any ideas anyone?
Edit: Works OK with IE 7

And I thought the scales of justice were independent...

Why are we in a world where its seemingly totally appropriate for a head of state to speculate about the outcome of a court case. Why do the sheeple not question this?

Why bother having the trials at all? We're living in dark days indeed!

What happened to the presumption of innocence?

The ONLY proper thing for Obama to say is that "in our system of justice, a person is presumed innocent, until found guilty by a jury of his/her peers."

Obama has contempt for the legal system.

Sad.

2001 is 1984

"in our system of justice, a person is presumed innocent, until found guilty by a jury of his/her peers."
Not in the post 9/11 Orwellian world.
2001 is 1984

Mistrial?

Plus, his comment has to prejudice the outcome. How will they find jurors who never learned of his comment? Looks dumb to me.

http://911truthburn.blogspot.

http://911truthburn.blogspot.com

Yeah when I heard that today on NPR, I thought "signed , sealed delivered".....

How Nobel Laureatish of him!

Politcal exploitation of a sensitive issue, 9/11

I think the MSM is using this and many other current media events to stir and prop the right party in future elections. Further views on this explained here -> http://911truthpedia.org/

I find it very grotesque how events are used for what appears to be political/strategic purposes and the lives that are toyed with, and the continued decisions about the dead and alive that suffer with loss and pain. Unlimited apologies to you are not enough.

possible form of action for families / NYCCAN / Jon

I'm not very skilled at such legal issues, but this is Federal court, right? Is jury selection the same as state court? How about penalty -can death penalty still be given in a state which has repealed the death penalty (NY has no D.P.)? And if so, where would he be put to death? (in NY?)

But most importantly, couldn't a civil trial be put against him if found guilty (even before the Fed trial, or if not found guilty, like with OJ)? Plaintiffs could be any family member, anyone with pain and suffering or damages (they may have signed off on suing the Government, but not on suing the actual "perpetrators") This would be an awesome opportunity to crack open the case in a way the federal court will not do.
A lawsuit like this could be relatively cheap and easy to file (someone already in custody may not even need to be served with the suit) and if taken from a family member perspective, impossible to discredit in the media. Jon, any ideas on this?

Can NY Courts Sentence the Death Penalty?

Good point, J Bax-- I was thinking the same. All this confident talk by the Admin. about putting KSM to death when NY doesn't have the death penalty. So sentencing occurs where?

All too weird.. Our president and A.G. announcing the result of the trial before-the-fact and announcing the punishment before the fact that isn't even legal in the state.

Gen. Petreaus has stated that torture occured and it was illegal by the Geneva Convention... and counterproductive. So we have an implausible confession from methods both illegal and counterproductive.

Who financed Mohammed Atta? Where is the evidence that KSM funded Atta, for example? "I did it" doesn't cut it. I don't even see evidence connecting KSM to the patsies.

Evidence extracted by torture is now OK in a US court....

KSM's "trial" will be a classic kangaroo style affair, the type commonly witnessed in dictatorships or police states. Obama's just given the show away... the verdict is already set in stone: Guilty, regardless of anything. This won't be a proper trial, or anything even resembling such.... but the mainstream weasel media will gloss it over and couch it in obscure legalese to give it some air of phony "legitimacy". Why even bother with any form of "trial" when the only acceptable verdict is a "guilty" one?

This trial will also set a dangerous precedent: the authorities will soon be empowered to torture anyone and bring the garbage "evidence" extracted by such into the court room to use against the defendant.

Mr. Obama is an even sicker puppy than I thought a few days back.... as are anyone involved in this unfolding travesty of justice.

Obama is a sick freak

...or sociopath, if you prefer.

The problem with sociopaths is that they are often extremely skilled actors. Their entire lives are spent emulating emotions that "ordinary" people feel; since they lack ordinary emotional responses relating to guilt, empathy and fear, they can also come across as supremely confident and assured in their opinions. They are the ultimate "confidence" (ie con) men.

In hierarchical societies we are taught from birth to "respect authority", so we tend to admire people who display these characteristics. This, combined with the sociopath's amorality, allows them to rise to the top of the pyramid both in politics and finance, where capitalist ethics reward the greediest, most corrupt individuals.

Some may argue that Obama is actually a decent person trapped in the great spider web of politics; he has to "pick his battles" and pander to certain fascist elements in order to stay in power (let alone stay alive). Even if this were true, it merely demonstrates that the current political arrangement is untenable. If even a "decent" man (which Obama is surely not, but let's pretend that he is) can become this venal after one year in power, the entire system needs to be rethought. We need systems that are directly responsive to the needs and desires of the mass of the population, and that means more than "representative democracy".

Concerning Obama's statements on the patsies, I would expect nothing less. What truly appalls me is the silence ie tacit endorsement of his position by practically the entire intellectual class. Even on the "left", I have only seen one or two prominent journalists pointing out the FACT that no reliable evidence has been produced to indicate the guilt of these men, nor the FACT that an abundance of information has been gathered by the 911 truth community suggesting that the guilty parties lie considerably closer to home, and that these men may very well be completely innocent.

Yet another indication that 911 has corrupted everything under the Sun, and needs to be exposed for the lie that it is.

"one or two prominent journalists pointing out the FACT"

Danse: "Even on the "left", I have only seen one or two prominent journalists pointing out the FACT that no reliable evidence has been produced to indicate the guilt of these men"

Who? please post links, or submit the articles.

UNDERNEWS: THE STRANGE RISE OF OBAMA (Obama worked for Business Intl Corp, (according to the NY Times and Lobster, a CIA proxy/front co.) and left that name out of his autobios - he traveled to Pakistan during the time when the State Dept had made it off limits for Americans, when the CIA was supporting the Mujahideen in Afghanistan- etc.

911blogger - Obama - Change we can Deceive In - A listing of parallels - see the comments for more links (this thread needs to be updated, as there are now many more examples)
http://www.911blogger.com/node/19498

http://911reports.com
http://www.historycommons.org

...

Prominent was perhaps the wrong word. I'm thinking of a handful of articles on ICH authored by names I recognize but the majority most certainly would not. In fact, now that I think about it, one of those articles had to do with drone attacks in Pakistan, not the 911 patsies (though the presumption of guilt still applies), so the situation is even worse than I thought.

the deafening silence of "intellectuals"

concerning all themes and subjects related to 911 is highly revealing of a deep mass psychology. It is beyond corruption, I believe. I think that the "corruption" may actually be a terror of the chaos that they imagine would ensue when it is publicly acknowledged that what on some level they all know has happened did indeed happen. If we just pretend not to see it, it isn't really there. With the publication of the nanothermite material there can no longer be any doubt: we were attacked by our own military; our media was complicit in covering this up and using it to start wars that would otherwise be unpopular. Our "elected officials" all seem complicit as well. The shake up would be so disasterous no "intellectual" or member of the "white collar class" will take the first step in that direction. They have way too much at stake in the way things are. And the "working class" is so taken up with just "putting food on their families" they don't have time to even think about it. It is not exactly "cognitive dissonance" anymore since that is more of a "shock" reaction.....It is this festering and immobilizing guilt that also includes fear...fear of punishment and chaos.
Talking about 911 in a university setting is considered "inappropriate" Journalism is no longer taught there Instead the students study "communication". This means that you learn to communicate what you are told.

You bet he is.

Obama is just another NWO freak. He is worse than Bush in my opinion. What a phony.

AP News, helping the cause...

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091118/ap_on_go_pr_wh/us_sept11_trial

The above article quotes Obama and Holder, both "convinced" KSM will be found guilty. They're quick to cover their arses and assure us that they really don't know what the outcome will be. But they've lost all credibility by now.

But I post it for your review because of what appears in the 5th paragraph from the bottom. Who's quoted there? None other than Mark Bingham's Mom. You believe me, everyone, don't you? Yes. Her. Why her? Because it's a chance to remind us all of an important plot point: "One of four jetliners hijacked on 9/11, Flight 93 crashed into a Pennsylvania field after passengers rushed the cabin." Whew! I'd almost forgotten. Thanks, AP News.

Does anyone really think this case will be anything more than another Off-Broadway production? Get ready. When they finally get around to flipping the switch and frying the "fairly tried and convicted terrorist", this will probably result in his "cohorts" manifesting their hatred in some new horrific way, all designed t o prove to the world yet again the great need to shore up defenses and combat evil terrorism. And none of us will be surprised. Chess is really quite easy when you have pieces on both sides of the board.

Ft. Hood Shootings Timing

What are the odds that after all the years of no terrorist activity in the US, the Ft. Hood Shootings take place only days before the NY Trials are announced? So we are immersed in the dual news stories of the Muslim shooter and his ties to radical Muslim jihadists simultaneous with the KSM trial. Domestic terrorism that just happens to coalesce with the announced 9/11 trials?

And Sunday as the news of this trial was still breaking, the HIST. Channel just happened to air their 9/11 hit piece several times throughout the day. (Featuring Jim Meigs and that kid as "experts" with the last word against our 'theorists.")

Federal law applies in

Federal law applies in federal court, not NY law (with some exceptions in civil cases). There is a federal death penalty. When I started practicing law (1982) there was no federal death penalty, but some Republican congress thought they'd win points by reinstituting it. In 2009, Russ Feingold introduced a law to abolish the federal death penalty.

Yes, there will be a jury, but it will be drawn from the Southern District of New York, not just NY City. In Oregon, federal courts are much more conservative than Multnomah County [state] Courts (Portland) because Oregon is a state-wide district and the entire East side of the state (and most of the sourthernmost portion) are extremely conservative.

I don't know enough about the reach of the Southern District of NY to know if it is conservative or progressive. I see the progressive position as supporting the "rule of law," i.e. you have to prove your case "beyond a reasonable doubt," and if the jury knows as much as we do there are three skyscrapers' full of doubt, 83? unseen videos of the pentagon, irreconcilable differences in the official stories of various government agencies, etc. etc. etc.

It will be telling to see what judge is appointed to this case (usually the purview of the Chief Judge). See what happened to Gov. Seigleman as an example of how "cooked" it can be. And wasn't former Attorney General Mukasey a federal judge reliably deciding cases for the Bush administration after Bush appointed him to the position?