A National Mistake

The Obama Justice Department made the announcement today that the first of the terror suspects at Gitmo, including Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, will be tried in federal court in New York City. At what point can we say that this President is not only in over his head, he's clueless?

Never mind the timing of this decision- a week after the terror attack at Ft Hood. The wisdom (or complete lack thereof) is what troubles me. We have seen this movie- back in 1993. Back then, the 1993 World Trade Center bombers were tried in federal court, making their trial a matter of public record. It was there that we learned that the World Trade Centers could withstand a hit from a 747 jet. So, what did the terrorists learn? Use a 757 or 767 (neither of which were in existence when the towers were constructed). Eight years later, two of those jets were used to take down the WTC in what can only be called an act of war. Now, we are going to give the perpetrators of this act full Constitutional rights? We're going to re-create the mistake we made in 1993? Also, what of the victims' families? An open trial will only provide a forum for the terrorists to openly mock the families as well as the city they attacked. It will re-open old wounds for the families and the city. Giving them access to the federal systems, complete with its rights, will allow their attorneys to utilize every legal option to draw out their cases and delay any penalties they may face, only adding years to the effort for families to gain closure. And, what happens if they walk?

The sad part is, this is in keeping with Obama's "See no evil" approach to terrorism. Obama was quick to condemn the act of a Cambridge, MA police officer for arresting his friend (justified, it turned out), yet could not bring himself to call last week's act at Ft Hood a terror attack, despite the flood of evidence that pointed to Hasan being committed to Islamic terror (how many people do you know who have SOA- "Son of Allah" on their business cards, and are not Islamic fanatics?). I believe it is because Obama does not take terrorism seriously. He's dithered on an Afghanistan decision. He's sent the 4 options presented to him back for revision. Recall that he had a summit on Afghanistan back in May. Six months later, he still has no idea about how to secure victory there? During the campaign, he chastised former President Bush for ignoring the "necessary war" in Afghanistan and instead pursuing the "war of choice" in Iraq. Given the supposed importance he placed on Afghanistan, and the fact that he's been talking about it since the campaign, is it too much to ask that he have a plan by now? Can't wait for that jobs summit in December- maybe he'll have some options to finally begin pondering by next June, just in time to maybe head off 11% unemployment.

When coupling all of these together, we're left to draw the conclusion that this President does not consider Islamic terrorism a serious problem. When this President fails to understand the consequences of his profligate spending, it means more taxes for citizens. Detrimental to the economy, but not necessarily life-threatening. When he treats terror in such a manner, people die. Will we have to witness another 9/11 because of this President's lack of focus? Will another President have to clean up this one's mess? And, at what point can we now call Obama a mistake? He is unable to call terror what it is. He is either unable or unwilling to treat terror as an act of war. It is not a crime in the same vein as a bank robbery, assault, etc. These were acts comparable to acts of war, and need to be handled as such. By placing these suspects in federal court, Obama only increases the risk that we'll see another 9/11. By then, he will have vacated the White House, leaving another President to have to comfort the families, address the nation, and make the tough decisions. Unlike Clinton, he can't plead ignorance of the threat. He can only plead ignorance.