In an op-ed published last week, White House Counterterrorism Adviser John Brennan alluded to the fact that trying failed underwear bomber Umar Abdulmutallab by military commission would be making the process of bringing him to justice needlessly more difficult. Brennan wrote:
Cries to try terrorists only in military courts lack foundation. There have been three convictions of terrorists in the military tribunal system since 9/11, and hundreds in the criminal justice system — including high-profile terrorists such as [Richard] Reid and 9/11 plotter Zacarius Moussaoui.
As I noted at the time, it's problematic for the administration to make this argument because they are, in fact, making use of military commissions to try suspected terrorists against whom the government's case is weak or reliant on hearsay.
There are a number of quotes from Vice President Joe Biden's appearance on Meet The Press going around, but the second half of this one doesn't seem to be making news:
Let me choose my words carefully here. Dick Cheney's a fine fellow. He's entitled to his own opinion. He's not entitled to rewrite history. He's not entitled to his own facts. The Christmas Day Bomber was treated the exact way that he suggested that the Shoe Bomber was treated. Absolutely the same way. Under the Bush Administration there were three trials in military courts. Two of those people are now walking the streets. They are free.
This is entirely accurate, and it frames the decision to try Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and the other alleged 9/11 conspirators differently. Polls show a majority of Americans favor military commissions for suspected terrorists, but I suspect that few actually know that the commissions have been so ineffective at trying terrorism cases in the past.
Meanwhile, the Obama administration keeps undermining its own rationale for bringing them back in the first place.
-- A. Serwer
