Khalid Sheikh Mohammed To Face Military Tribunal

Khalid Sheikh Mohammed To Face Military Tribunal

PETE YOST 04/ 4/11 12:48 PM ET

WASHINGTON — Professed 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four alleged co-conspirators are being referred to the system of military commissions for trial, a federal law enforcement official said Monday.

The decision by the Obama administration is an about-face from earlier plans to have the five go on trial in civilian federal court in New York, which created intense political opposition among Republicans and even some Democrats, particularly in New York.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity about the switch, which Attorney General Eric Holder was expected to announce at an afternoon news conference.

Republican critics have roundly assailed the administration, first for the decision in late 2009 to try the men in New York City, then for a long delay in making a decision on whether to have them face military commission justice instead.

The four alleged co-conspirators are Waleed bin Attash, a Yemeni who allegedly ran an al-Qaida training camp in Afghanistan; Ramzi Binalshibh, a Yemeni who allegedly helped find flight schools for the hijackers; Ali Abd al-Aziz Ali, accused of helping nine of the hijackers travel to the United States and sent them $120,000 for expenses and flight training, and Mustafa Ahmad al-Hawsawi, a Saudi accused of helping the hijackers with money, Western clothing, traveler's checks and credit cards.

Mohammed allegedly proposed the concept for the Sept. 11 attacks to Osama bin Laden as early as 1996, obtained funding for the attacks from bin Laden, oversaw the operation and trained the hijackers in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Mohammed was born in Pakistan's Baluchistan province and raised in Kuwait.

Obama is Hopeless. Keep the Change.

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2011/04/04/gitmo-tribunal-move-the-...

First, he was going to close Guantanamo, calling it an ineffective "legal black hole:"

"By any measure, our system of trying detainees has been a failure. Over the course of nearly seven years, there has not been a single conviction for a terrorist act at Guantanamo. There has just been one conviction for material support of terrorism," he said in June of 2008. "Meanwhile, this legal black hole has substantially set back America's ability to lead the world against the threat of terrorism, and undermined our most basic values. But make no mistake: we are less safe because of the way George Bush has handled this issue."

Then, he was going to restore habeas corpus rights to alleged terrorists:

"Our courts have employed habeas corpus with rigor and fairness for more than two centuries, and we must continue to do so as we defend the freedom that violent extremists seek to destroy. We cannot afford to lose any more valuable time in the fight against terrorism to a dangerously flawed legal approach," he also said in June of 2008.

Promising to return America to the "moral high ground" in the war on terrorism, Obama issued a high profile executive order in his first official day as president that required the Guantanamo Bay detention facility be closed within a year.

But last month, the president signed a very different executive order - one that resumed military trials for Guantanamo Bay detainees. Still, White House officials insisted nonetheless the president "remains committed to closing the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay."

Despite that order, civil liberty advocates took solace in the fact the president and his justice department at least appeared to stand behind their vow to try accused terrorists in civilian courts.

That was, until Holder's expected announcement Monday.

The president's primary concern is that the accused perpetrators "be brought to justice as swiftly as possible," White House Press Secretary Jay Carney told reporters Monday in response to questions of the apparent about-face.

With this fair and balanced judicial system...

...I would not be surprised if Mr. Khalid Mohammed admits to spraying nano-thermite in the twin towers just before he is convicted and executed. Case closed!

(Meanwhile, the hunt continues for that wascally Osama bin Laden…who is everywhere and nowhere to be found, but known to lurk in countries with vast mineral wealth that needs our military and corporations to liberate. Obviously we must attack those troubled countries in order to save them from this wily terrorist, in our never-ending quest for truth , justice and the American way.)

Dr. Cornel West:"Obama becoming puppet of Wall St Oligarchs"

Dr. Cornel West:"Obama becoming puppet of Wall St Oligarchs"

Holder: 9/11 Suspects to Face Military Tribunals

During the trial, it will not

During the trial, it will not be asked to Khalid Sheikh Mohammed to explain how building 7 collapsed during 2.5 seconds at free fall speed.

http://spookyweather.blogspot.com/2010/12/david-chandler-freefall-and-bu...

This is not really a surprise. Obama will murder scapegoats to protect the real perpetrators of mass murder of Sept. 11, 2001. George Bush, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld and other criminals can thank him.

Tit2 France

It's a sad day in America.

Torture, military tribunals, tomahawk missles, drone attacks, unemployment, foreclosures, while GE pays no taxes on at least 5 billion made directly within US borders. Fascism is when the Govt takes over industry, what do you call it when corporations take over Govt? The end result looks very similar.

Which -ism?

When the government takes over industry is supposed to be socialism, not fascism. Fascism (some have said) is more like the reverse--when the goverment is subordinated to private interests. Oligarchies have been very common in history, but when oligarchs of more recent times roll back democratic institutions that have been achieved over the last two centuries, in order to reassert and maximize their power--under the guise of 'patrotism' and militarism, and employing the propaganda advantages of modern mass media--then you're getting into fascism.

Kristen Breitweiser says it all