Mario Piperni dot Com

.

It all comes down to this.

The five men facing trial in the Sept. 11 attacks will plead not guilty so that they can air their criticisms of U.S. foreign policy, the lawyer for one of the defendants said Sunday.

Scott Fenstermaker, the lawyer for accused terrorist Ali Abd al-Aziz Ali, said the men would not deny their role in the 2001 attacks but “would explain what happened and why they did it.”

This of course will drive the right into further frenzy.

Critics of Attorney General Eric Holder’s decision to try the men in a New York City civilian courthouse have warned that the trial would provide the defendants with a propaganda platform.

Critics of Holder’s decision – mostly Republicans – argued the trial will give Mohammed and his co-defendants a world stage to spout hateful rhetoric. Holder said such concerns are misplaced, and any pronouncements by the suspects would only make them look worse.

Holder adds…

“I have every confidence that the nation and the world will see him for the coward that he is. I’m not scared of what Khalid Sheikh Mohammed has to say at trial – and no one else needs to be, either.”

We just need to realize that repubs are scaredy-cats.  Fighting propaganda with truth is not a concept they fully grasp.

___

To receive email notifications of new posts from MarioPiperniDotCom, click on Subscribe.

.

This is exactly right.
.

.

“And now repubs speak with a fear and cowardice that would have the terrorists saying, “Mission accomplished. They’re terrified of us. They won’t even allow us on their soil to try us by their very laws. Wonderful.””

“What happened to that attitude of strength Republicans once had? Why has it been replaced with fear and cowering?”

.

-mario piperni November 16, 2009

___

To receive email notifications of new posts from MarioPiperniDotCom, click on Subscribe.

.

.

Here’s an interesting perspective on the 9/11 New York trials.

A pure low-quality system (military commissions only) suffers from credibility problems.  People will not believe that all the people who are convicted are guilty.  A pure high-quality system (civilian courts only) would result in too many acquittals.  People who the government believes are dangerous will be back on the streets.  The two-tiered system allows for credible convictions when credible convictions are possible, and (non-credible) convictions when credible convictions are not possible.  The two-tiered system produces higher overall credibility without sacrificing the incapacitation of dangerous (or supposedly dangerous) people.

The main criticisms of Holder’s approach are that KSM and others will take over proceedings and use them for propaganda purposes, that secrecy will be compromised, and that the approach signals insufficient seriousness about the terrorist threat.  The first two concerns are actually irrelevant.  The DOJ will decide on a case by case basis, and if those concerns in any particular case are serious, it will opt for military commissions.  The last concern is harder to evaluate, but it boils down to the claim that a blunderbuss system that results in outcomes that people distrust is better, on symbolic grounds, than a surgical system that produces the same pattern of convictions but with higher overall credibility.  Why would the more intelligent approach signal lack of seriousness about terrorism?

___

To receive email notifications of new posts from MarioPiperniDotCom, click on Subscribe.

.

This Bill O’Reilly clip points out the obvious once again.
.

.

In O’Reilly’s world (and that of many conservatives), ignoring the Constitution and shunning it aside as an insignificant matter in this debate is the logical thing to do.

Here how Tom Andrews, director of the National Campaign to Close Guantanamo puts it.

“If you are accused, you get to know what you know what you are accused of, you get to face your accusers, and you get to defend yourself in court, and then you face a trial and a conviction. This is who we are as a system.”

“The Taliban? You can get a trial and a beheading in a few hours. That’s not our system of justice.”

End of story.

___

To receive email notifications of new posts from MarioPiperniDotCom, click on Subscribe.

.

Jon Stewart’s take on the 9/11 trial hysteria is spot on.  The Rudy Giuliani segment pretty much tells you where Republicans are on this one. It’s less about fear of anything as much as it has to do with Obama bashing. Surprise.
.

___

To receive email notifications of new posts from MarioPiperniDotCom, click on Subscribe.

.

.

Kristen Breitweiser’s husband was killed on 9/11. She speaks out on the 9/11 trial coming to New York.

Lawrence O’Donnell: Some of the victims’ families of 9/11 have indicated that they’re not pleased with this move to New York. How do you react to this?

Breitweiser: I think those families seem to be indicating a sense of anger or fear. And I think really, to be feeling those types of things, it doesn’t fit my personality. I think that that’s bowing to the terrorists. I think there is no better place than the Southern District of New York to be having these prosecutions heard. I think it’s an open forum. And I think it speaks to the world that we are in fact a nation of laws. And frankly, I think, after eight years of the Bush administration we’ve got a lot of work in restoring our legitimacy to the rest of the world, that we are indeed a just nation that follows the rule of law.

That’s what clarity of thought sounds like. No hysterics. No ranting. Just plain common sense.
.

.
___

To receive email notifications of new posts from MarioPiperniDotCom, click on Subscribe.

.

.

A movement in the right direction…finally.

Khalid Sheik Mohammed — the self-proclaimed mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks — and four co-defendants will be tried in federal court in New York instead of a military commission, with prosecutors likely to seek the death penalty, U.S. Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. announced Friday.

The long-awaited decision, part of President Obama’s quest to close the military detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, sparked immediate outrage from Republican lawmakers, who said military commissions are a more secure and appropriate place to try suspected terrorists. But the announcement drew praise from civil rights advocates, who argue that the detainees’ civil rights have been violated by years of detention without trial and the use of military commissions.

“For over 200 years, our nation has relied on a faithful adherence to the rule of law to bring criminals to justice and provide accountability to victims,” Holder said. “Once again we will ask our legal system to rise to that challenge, and I am confident it will answer the call with fairness and justice.”

Why would anyone fear that a legal system which has served the country well for over 200 years should now suddenly fail in the midst of trying terrorists?  The irrational claims by the right that terrorists are too dangerous to be brought on to American soil speaks of a belief that these men are something else than mere humans. As irrational are the claims that the American justice system would provide loopholes by which these men might escape the punishment they deserve should they be found guilty…or worse, found not guilty.

“The Obama Administration’s irresponsible decision to prosecute the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks in New York City puts the interests of liberal special interest groups before the safety and security of the American people,” House Republican Leader John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) said in a statement. “The possibility that Khalid Sheik Mohammed and his co-conspirators could be found ‘not guilty’ due to some legal technicality just blocks from Ground Zero should give every American pause.”

Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Tex.), ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee, said holding 9/11 trials in the federal court system “could endanger the American people.”

“Bringing terrorists to U.S. soil expands their constitutional rights and could result in shorter sentences,” Smith said. “Trying terrorists in military commissions at Guantanamo Bay is the most appropriate venue and safest option for the American people.”

One either believes in the American judicial system or they don’t. Republican’s ploy of playing on people’s fears as a means of keeping Guantanamo open won’t work. Let the trials begin.

___

To receive email notifications of new posts from MarioPiperniDotCom, click on Subscribe.

.