We Don't Usually Agree With The Courier Journal, But We Decry ANY "Fear Mongering" From BOTH The Left And The Right!
Editorial | Fear mongering
Mitch McConnell continues his blatant effort to politicize sensitive national security decisions. The country be damned, he seems to feel, if something might give Republicans a slight electoral edge.
The Kentucky Republican's latest moment of intemperance came Wednesday, when he took to the Senate floor to denounce the Obama administration for bringing a Somali terror suspect — Ahmed Abdulkadir Warsame — to New York for trial in a federal civilian court. Sen. McConnell argued that Mr. Warsame should be taken to the U.S. prison at Guantánamo Bay in Cuba to be tried by a military tribunal.
With overheated bombast, Sen. McConnell said the administration has “imported a terrorist” to the United States, giving him the rights of American citizens in court. “This ideological rigidity being displayed by the administration is harming the national security” of the U.S., he said.
Put aside that being accused by Sen. McConnell of “ideological rigidity” truly is like being called ugly by a frog. The senator, who feels that interrogating prisoners and obtaining all available information should take precedence over their trials, simply ignores the facts in order to come up with criticism of the administration that he hopes will sound good.
Mr. Warsame was arrested April 19 and put aboard a Navy warship for interrogation at sea by intelligence officers. During that time, U.S. officials say, he provided important information about al-Qaida in Yemen and al-Shabab militants in Somalia. After questioning was complete, the FBI interrogated him anew, in ways that would hold up in court. He was read his Miranda rights and offered an attorney, but he kept on talking.
Moreover, the Justice Department insists — and military attorneys agree — that civilian courts are often the best avenue for obtaining convictions and stiff sentences.
Indeed, hundreds of defendants charged with terror-related crimes have been found guilty in civilian courts — many during the Republican administration of George W. Bush — and the conviction rate has been almost 90 percent. Only a handful of cases, none of them particularly consequential, have been resolved in military proceedings at Guantánamo. Other Somalis, including pirates, have been brought to the U.S., tried and convicted.
In any event, these things clearly need to be decided on a case-by-case basis — not micro-managed by the right wing in Congress.
Sen. McConnell's whining comes in the aftermath of his deplorable effort to create an uproar over the Justice Department's decision to try two terror suspects arrested in Bowling Green, Ky., in local federal courts. To their credit, Bowling Green Mayor Joe Denning and two city commissioners defeated a resolution urging that the trial be moved from Bowling Green. That undoubtedly embarrassed Sen. McConnell, or at least it should have.
There is important work to be done in Washington. Raising the debt ceiling and avoiding an American default would be a good start. Sen. McConnell should abandon his phony appeals to fear — and get to work.
Mitch McConnell continues his blatant effort to politicize sensitive national security decisions. The country be damned, he seems to feel, if something might give Republicans a slight electoral edge.
The Kentucky Republican's latest moment of intemperance came Wednesday, when he took to the Senate floor to denounce the Obama administration for bringing a Somali terror suspect — Ahmed Abdulkadir Warsame — to New York for trial in a federal civilian court. Sen. McConnell argued that Mr. Warsame should be taken to the U.S. prison at Guantánamo Bay in Cuba to be tried by a military tribunal.
With overheated bombast, Sen. McConnell said the administration has “imported a terrorist” to the United States, giving him the rights of American citizens in court. “This ideological rigidity being displayed by the administration is harming the national security” of the U.S., he said.
Put aside that being accused by Sen. McConnell of “ideological rigidity” truly is like being called ugly by a frog. The senator, who feels that interrogating prisoners and obtaining all available information should take precedence over their trials, simply ignores the facts in order to come up with criticism of the administration that he hopes will sound good.
Mr. Warsame was arrested April 19 and put aboard a Navy warship for interrogation at sea by intelligence officers. During that time, U.S. officials say, he provided important information about al-Qaida in Yemen and al-Shabab militants in Somalia. After questioning was complete, the FBI interrogated him anew, in ways that would hold up in court. He was read his Miranda rights and offered an attorney, but he kept on talking.
Moreover, the Justice Department insists — and military attorneys agree — that civilian courts are often the best avenue for obtaining convictions and stiff sentences.
Indeed, hundreds of defendants charged with terror-related crimes have been found guilty in civilian courts — many during the Republican administration of George W. Bush — and the conviction rate has been almost 90 percent. Only a handful of cases, none of them particularly consequential, have been resolved in military proceedings at Guantánamo. Other Somalis, including pirates, have been brought to the U.S., tried and convicted.
In any event, these things clearly need to be decided on a case-by-case basis — not micro-managed by the right wing in Congress.
Sen. McConnell's whining comes in the aftermath of his deplorable effort to create an uproar over the Justice Department's decision to try two terror suspects arrested in Bowling Green, Ky., in local federal courts. To their credit, Bowling Green Mayor Joe Denning and two city commissioners defeated a resolution urging that the trial be moved from Bowling Green. That undoubtedly embarrassed Sen. McConnell, or at least it should have.
There is important work to be done in Washington. Raising the debt ceiling and avoiding an American default would be a good start. Sen. McConnell should abandon his phony appeals to fear — and get to work.
Labels: News reporting
posted by KYJurisDoctor at 12:56 PM
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