Never Forget

It is a day of remembrance for many, a day in which we collectively recall the horror broadcast in real time.  It is a day in which we recall the selflessness of so many who walked upward while others passed on the way down.  It is a time to recall the shortened lives of innocents, and those left to ponder the inequity of it all.  It is a day to once again recall the grandeur of our civilization and the threat it poses to those who would shackle the human heart and spirit slavishly to words uttered in a cave fourteen centuries ago.  It is a day to remember how we came together in grief and horror, and it is a day to remember how we came together in righteous action to deal the aggressor great blows.  It is a day to remember a man with a bullhorn, growing before our very eyes, whose clarity of thought and action gave great comfort to a wounded nation.  It is a day to remember that we shall never forget. 

KSM et al To Be Tried In Civilian Courts in NYC

I guess you could see this one coming, given statements the President has made and the waffling, unimpressive performance of his Attorney General thus far. Khalid Sheik Mohammed and his gang of merry men are going to be tried in the civilian criminal justice system in New York. Word is that all five of these miscreants will be tried together, and that prosecutors are likely to seek the death sentence.

We've talked here about "alternative futures"; that is, the strategic planning technique of looking at a number of "realities" that may develop, and then thinking about how one would react to those futures. I think some "alternative futures" thinking is in order here.

Firstly, I think the most likely outcome of this trial is that it will be 1) long 2) a circus 3) a proxy for Democrat/Obama retributive behavior toward the Bush Administration and 4) fatal to KSM and probably at least one or two others (as in, they will be convicted and they will earn the death penalty.

But let's think about another alternative future, shall we? Let's think about a future in which KSM gets off--not fully, of course, but winds up guilty of some crime other than one that earns him a one-way ticket to his 76 virgins. Can you imagine the political blow-back that will accrue to the Obama Administration if that is the case? Is this likely? N0t nearly as likely as the scenario described above, but MY GOD, how ruinous it would be if it were to come to pass.

Let's get one thing straight--military commissions, held in Guantanamo, could have worked. The Congress--working closely with the Justice Department and the DoD--could have created a military commissions framework in which these fellows could easily have been tried--one that would have passed Supreme Court muster and one in which the circus that will surely come would have been minimized. But no-- now the trial will become at least partially a trial of the Bush Administration--and a casualty of that process could be justice. Once this trial becomes focused on "waterboarding", all bets will be off and Katy bar the door.

Finally--these men are not criminals. They were unlawful combatants who perpetrated an act of war upon the United States of America. Trying them in our criminal justice system is a miscarriage of justice, and extends unto each one of them any and all liberties enjoyed by every American citizen when he or she steps into a courtroom. This is not the way it should be.

UPDATE: A nicely done editorial from NRO