Senator Mitch McConnell Decries POTUS Barack Obama's Idea Of trying 9/11 Terror Suspects In U. S. As A "Huge Mistake". I Disagree.

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McConnell criticizes White House for bringing alleged 9-11 plotters to New York
By Dan Klepal

Sen. Mitch McConnell said Friday that Attorney General Eric Holder’s decision to try 9-11 suspects in civilian court in New York City is a “step backward for our national security” and could lead to classified intelligence being made available to terrorists.

The Senate minority leader held an afternoon press conference at his office inside the Gene Snyder Federal Courthouse, where he characterized as a “huge mistake” the decision to bring Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the self-proclaimed mastermind behind the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, and four other Guantanamo Bay detainees onto United States soil.

... “Nobody in America wants these people tried in their local community,” McConnell said, adding that getting a conviction in a civilian court will be “much tougher” and that once the U.S. Justice Department “hands these people over to the court system, they have no more control.

“If they are acquitted, a judge could simply let them go,” McConnell said. “There is no rational basis for bringing these foreigners into the U.S. court system.”

U.S. Rep. John Yarmuth, a Democrat, was in eastern Kentucky Friday touring mountain top removal sites and was unreachable, but he released a statement supporting the decision. “The United States of America has the best justice system in the world, and I am certain that the terrorists responsible for the atrocities of 9-11 will be held accountable for their deplorable actions,” he said. “The families of the victims deserve the opportunity to see them face justice.”

But McConnell said most of the families of 9-11 victims don’t want the trials in this country. He also contended that holding the trial of Omar Abdel Rahman in New York for the 1993 World Trade Center bombing led to terrorists obtaining classified information. He gave no specific examples, but said that information helped the 9-11 plotters.

“We can hold the trials here,” McConnell said. “The question is: should we?” He added that the decision “maybe made the ACLU happy” but makes “the city of New York a target.”

However, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg released a statement supporting the decision: “It is fitting that 9-11 suspects face justice near the World Trade Center site where so many New Yorkers were murdered. … New York City stands ready to assist the federal court in the administration of justice in any way necessary”

Reporter Dan Klepal can be reached at (502) 582-4475.

Editor's comment: While I, too, decry the atrocities of 9/11, I think we need to show the world that we are a civilized society that will not succumb to the temptation to NOT treat these savages civilly.

And remember, these people are not the so called "enemy combatants", but rather hijackers who caused death.

I have confidence, like Mike Bloomberg, that we have an exceptional judicial system that can try -- and convict and house -- these individuals safely in the U. S. .

After all, we do so everyday in our maximum security prisons with equally damnable characters.

Moreover, it would be BAD karma for these individuals to stand trial while "looking out the window" and hating the re-built Twin Towers.

Having made my opinion known, I must also conclude that Mitch McConnell has a question which needs to be answered BEFORE trials commence: what do we do with these individuals in the VERY UNLIKELY event that the court sets any of them free.

Unless we can deport them, we should not entertain the idea of having their trials on U. S. soil.