Kuwait Times

Published Date: November 19, 2009

WASHINGTON: Americans should not be "fearful" of the prospect that five men accused of masterminding the September 11 attacks will go on trial in New York City, President Barack Obama said yesterday. "I think this notion that somehow we have to be fearful, that these terrorists possess some special powers that prevent us from presenting evidence against them, locking them up and exacting swift justice, I think that has been a fundamental mistake," he said according to early excerpts of an interview release
d yesterday.

US Attorney General Eric Holder announced last week that five men accused of plotting the attacks, including the self-described mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, would be moved from Guantanamo Bay to New York for prosecution. The five men face trial at a courthouse just steps from Ground Zero, where thousands lost their lives after hijacked airliners were flown into the two World Trade Center towers. Holder's announcement, made while Obama visits Asia, prompted furious reactions from a number of victim fa
milies and outrage among Republican lawmakers.

Republican Senator John McCain, Obama's former election rival, warned the decision sent "a mixed message about America's resolve in the fight against terrorism. "We are at war, and we must bring terrorists to justice in a manner consistent with the horrific acts of war they have committed," he said. A poll on Tuesday showed that almost two-thirds of Americans disagree with the Obama's decision.

Sixty-four percent of those surveyed said Khalid Sheikh Mohammed should be tried in a military court, while only 34 percent agreed with Obama that the civilian judicial system was the best way forward, the CNN poll said. Seventy-eight percent of those polled said they thought he should be executed if found guilty, and a quarter of those said they did not normally support capital punishment.

But Obama said he believed the decision was the right one. "You know, I said to the attorney general, make a decision based on the law," he said. "I also have great confidence in our... courts, the courts that have tried hundreds of terrorist suspects who are imprisoned right now in the United States." The announcement came as Obama seeks to close the controversial facility at Guantanamo Bay, making good on a campaign promise to shutter the detention camp within a year of taking office.

Meanwhile, the US Senate on Tuesday defeated a measure seen as hampering US President Barack Obama's administration plans to try suspected terrorists in civilian courts in New York. Republican Senator James Inhofe's amendment, which was defeated in a 57-43 vote, aimed to prevent the transfer of detainees held at the Guantanamo Bay facility for suspected terrorists to US soil.

Inhofe's measure would have blocked any monies in a military construction and veterans' affairs bill from going to build or modify any US facilities to hold Guantanamo Bay detainees on a temporary or permanent basis. Republicans have assailed the Obama administration's plans to try five alleged plotters in the September 11, 2001 terrorist strikes in civilian court in New York. The measure would have blocked the trial of the five in a civilian court as well as the transfer of those who would remain jailed i
ndefinitely because they are deemed major security risks.

The Senate did the right thing by voting down this amendment and made clear its support for the attorney general's tough decision to try detainees in our federal criminal courts and to restore the rule of law," the American Civil Liberties Union said in a statement. "The Senate today rejected fear-mongering and political grandstanding, and recognized that justice can only be served in our tried and true courts.

Congress is beginning to see that the right way to keep us safe is to uphold the rule of law and comply with the Constitution," the ACLU added. Human Rights First also voiced relief. "Senate blockage of this amendment is a step toward putting to rest a legacy of failed detention policy and is a victory for the American people," said Elisa Massimino, Human Rights First's president.

The detentions at Guantanamo Bay are a blot on the reputation of the United States that harms US national security and foreign policy interests. Taking the men housed there and moving them into a court system that has an exemplary track record for convictions is the wisest course forward and one that should not be derailed by political fear-mongering," she argued. Tom Andrews, the director of the National Campaign to Close Guantanamo, argued that "the Inhofe amendment is pure Washington politics at its sh
ameful worst.

When a Republican president brought terrorist Zacarias Moussaoui to US soil for trial, conviction and incarceration, Senator Inhofe was investing his time and attention denying climate change and making English our official language. Now that a Democratic president is bringing other terrorist suspects to US soil for trial, conviction and incarceration, Senator Inhofe is busy doing a 180-degree turn while trying to score cheap political points with the far right," Andrews said. - Agencies