Louisville Courier Journal Editorial On Eric Holder's "Difficult But Wise Decision" To Try 9/11 Terrorists In U. S. Civil Courts.

Attorney General Eric Holder made a difficult but wise decision last week when he directed that the trial of five major figures in the 9/11 attacks be brought to trial in federal court in New York.

Mr. Holder's decision to move Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged mastermind of the atrocities, and four others from Guantánamo Bay to Manhattan, site of the World Trade Center, reaffirms American determination to punish the perpetrators severely while underscoring trust in the nation's judicial system.

Five other defendants will be prosecuted by a military commission. Among them is Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, who is believed to have coordinated the attacks on the USS Cole in 2000.

Although the goal should be to try as many terror suspects as possible in civilian courts — with the transparency and due process that such proceedings ensure — Mr. Holder makes a defensible distinction. The men who will be tried in New York are accused of crimes primarily against American civilians on U.S. soil; the five defendants before military tribunals are charged with terrorist activities against military targets overseas. Trying the five men before a military panel is made more palatable by recent steps to apply time-honored military standards to the commissions. The Obama administration now should develop further guidelines for deciding which future cases will be pointed to the courts, and which to military judges.

Knee-jerk criticism of Mr. Holder's decision, primarily by Republicans in Congress, is unfounded.

Although some evidence against Mr. Mohammed and others is likely to be barred from a civilian court on the grounds it was obtained through torture, the Justice Department insists it has sufficient admissible evidence for convictions. Moreover, the question may become moot, since there are indications Mr. Mohammed will want to plead guilty and be executed in order to become a martyr.

Mr. Holder also expressed confidence that classified information can be kept secret, in answer to another objection. And New York officials from both parties welcomed the decision and pledged security would be adequate, despite some Capitol Hill assertions to the contrary.

Most important, even in the unlikely event of an acquittal of Mr. Mohammed or the others, there is virtually no possibility any of them would be set free. They could continue to be held on numerous grounds, including that they are prisoners of war in an ongoing conflict.

The reason that Mr. Mohammed and others of his ilk have not already been tried is that President George W. Bush lacked faith that the United States could simultaneously combat terrorists and adhere to the rule of law. President Obama's conviction that the nation can do both is not only welcome, it is a reminder of what sets Americans apart from the enemy.