Guantanamo Prisoner Verdict: Not Guilty in 284 out of 285 Charges
Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani, the accused terrorist and plotter of
the embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania, was acquitted of the most serious charges against him. The judge proudly announced that the Constitution worked. Maybe, but no body is happy. The Obama administration failed to prove two cases. One case was against the defendant, but the other, maybe ultimately the more important one, was the efficacy of our civilian courts for trying suspected terrorists.
That the first case failed is obvious but the second is only slightly more subtle. Ghailani, whatever his sentence, was convicted of conspiracy to destroy government property (and not the murder of 224 people, including 12 Americans). He will stay locked up until America makes peace with Al Qaeda, but not because our courts worked but because he can be held as an enemy combatant. This being the case, civil libertarians, left and right, wonder why we had this trial at all?
This result means to me that it would be utter madness to try Khalid Sheik Mohammad in a civilian court in New York City or any place else. Aside from the security costs, the vulnerability of witnesses and jurors, since KSM is not getting out of jail EVER, what is the point? Since conviction is not assured, as this test case establishes, why give KSM and Al Qaeda a microphone, publicity and let him spread his hate and lies?
There is a Jewish curse: May his name be erased. The evil deserve no monuments. Nor should they be the center of discussion. Their names should find no place in our memories, nor in any part of our souls. Take KSM out of the spotlight. Deny him a platform. Block him from the martyrdom he so clearly seeks. Stick him in a dark hole and: May his name be erased.
©2010 Jonathan Dobrer
www.Dobrer.com
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