Why Are 9/11 Killers Being Tried in New York?

The administration snatched a government conviction from the jaws of victory when it halted military tribunals in Guantanamo earlier this year. Now, Attorney General Eric Holder is giving terrorists another opportunity to get away with murder. Seen this before. Last December, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, a/k/a KSM, expressed his desire to plead guilty to participating in the events of 9/11, planning or participating in 30 other terrorism events, and beheading Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl. KSM welcomed his execution, but before he could make his guilty plea, President Obama took office. His first executive order halted all tribunal proceedings and announced the closing of Guantanamo within one year. On Friday, Holder announced that KSM and four others will transfer to the Southern District of New York to face federal trial on criminal charges, yet other Gitmo detainees will undergo future military tribunals. Does any of this make any sense? Why would the administration want to subject New Yorkers to an arduous trial that will dredge up horrible memories of the murder of almost 3,000 other New Yorkers? It already has forgotten the terror a low flying Air Force One brought to the masses when it flew over Manhattan earlier this year. By trying KSM in New York City, he gets a second bite at the Big Apple. He gets the opportunity to put the government on trial for waterboarding him and others, and gives the New York Times the opportunity to expose more government secrets about U.S. techniques in capturing terrorists. Now KSM gets constitutional protections to which he was not entitled. The long line of ACLU attorneys, working with defense attorneys assigned to the Office of Military Commissions, will vie for a position on KSM’s defense team. If KSM elects to defend himself, as his nephew, Ramzi Yousef, the mastermind of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing did in the same venue, it will be quite a spectacle. As a DEA special agent assigned to Islamabad, Pakistan, I helped arrest Yousef, who was staying at the Su Casa guesthouse in the capital city. I also collected evidence that was later introduced at his trial. A reporter for Time magazine covering the event interviewed KSM, who was also staying at the Su Casa guesthouse at the time of Yousef’s arrest. “It was like a hurricane, a big panic,” KSM said after identifying himself as a businessman from Karachi. “They were dragging him downstairs. He was blindfolded, barefoot and had his hands and legs bound, and was shouting, ‘I’m innocent, why are you taking me?’ and ‘Show me the arrest warrant.’” We had no idea who KSM was, and did not make a connection to Yousef. It was interesting to find out later that the bin Laden family owned the Su Casa guesthouse. At his trial, Yousef personally cross-examined all the witnesses, including me. I was on the stand about 45 minutes and subjected to rambling questions that seemed like a waste of time. The judge ordered witnesses to refer to Yousef in the third person. When I slipped once and answered his question, “You were against the wall when I entered the room,” the judge rolled his leather desk chair over to the witness stand and whispered to me, “Agent, I’m not going to have to remind you again to refer to Mr. Yousef in the third person, am I?” A repeat performance is now possible for KSM. If other detainees are still going to be tried at Gitmo and it’s good enough for them, why isn’t it good enough for KSM and the four others? Could it be that the “Gitmo five” were all waterboarded? Will they have the opportunity to raise the issue at trial? Will the defense demand classified material and allege that the conduct of government agents was so outrageous that the jury should acquit KSM? We’ll soon see. Regardless, KSM and his comrades were lodged in Gitmo for a good reason: They are enemy combatants. Keeping them there prevents their escape or rescue by other terrorists, and keeps Americans safe. Now all that has changed. Is there anything else the administration can do for these killers?