BBC News - Khalid Sheikh Mohammed Guantanamo hearing gets chaotic start The farce that is the trial of the alleged 9/11 plotters has got off to some start. The suspects who at this stage must be gone over the edge from years of water boarding and other forms of torture (one of them has been water boarded over 180 times) were ranting in court about plots to kill them, praying, refused to listen to the judge or acknowledge the court, etc etc etc.... The judge does not know whether the most basic constitutional rules apply in the case before him. The 9/11 trial begins: Why second-class justice harms everyone - Opinion - Al Jazeera English Why is this not in a US federal courtroom ? The judge is overwhelmed, the families of the 9/11 victims are never going to get "untainted" justice and as for the rights of the defendants........... What should be the most important trial in US history has been made into a farce. Bumbling Obama bumbles again.
Such a fucking joke. Last time I checked the Bill of Rights said "all people" not "Just Americans". Its sad, one thing I used to be proud of in America was that we were better then our enemy's in the sense that we always show them human decency and gave them rights they would never give us(once the fighting has stopped, POWs and what not).
The trials were originally planned to be held in New York City, but it would be extremely dangerous and expensive. I sure as hell wouldn't want to sit on a jury for these clowns. They're better off getting a military tribunal, they're all probably going to be found guilty and spend the rest of their lives in prison, anyway, wherever the proceedings are held.
Would it not have made more sense to hold the trial in a federal court where the defendants could face justice in an open and honest fashion ? This military court judge is clearly out of his depth here. The US government is making a mockery of the 9/11 victims and families by treating the biggest trial the country has ever seen in such shoddy fashion. After the Afghan war, the Iraq war, thousands of young US men and women sacrificed, the killing of Bin Laden, hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians dead, countries destroyed and billions upon billions of dollars spent this is what they do ? If i was an American i would be disgusted.
If we're so sure they're guilty that we're willing to extensively torture them, why the fuck are they so afraid to put them in a federal court. Not this military court bullshit. I'm sick of this shit.
They will be found guilty and a precedent will be set in American courts that testimony can be obtained through torture. Going forward American citizens will be tortured in to confessions used to convict them.
Because the Republicans blocked the closing of Gitmo and would not allow Federal trials like the President requested.
you'd think Obama would be more vocal about this, since he's so much against gitmo and all.. maybe after the election?
i don't know.. If I were the pres, and if i had a problem with something like that.. i'd have something to say. I wouldn't just sit back and blame everyone. even if nothing came of my public outrage.. at least i'd be able to sleep at night,.
He has been active in trying to move things along. Hence the tribunals now. He has been putting pressure on Congress but that still doesn't help. He signed an executive order two days after taking office, yet they still circumvented it through Congressional actions. You know damn well he isn't just doing nothing. Read this and just maybe you will have a touch more respect for him (Especially you firework, don't just believe the haters, learn for yourself); Guantanamo Bay Naval Base - Gitmo - News - The New York Times
One of the alleged terrorists' attorneys is demanding that people in the court to bow down to Islamic Supremacy, by dressing in such a way as not to offend the religious sensibilities of the defendants. [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4IA95XvVeeA]Terrorist Defense Attorney Cheryl Bormann Demands Women Wear Hijabs to Court - YouTube[/ame]
From your article: I don't understand what I need to learn specifically? I'm just trying to express my disgust with the things that our government allows to happen there. I'm not exclusively blaming Obama for this. I know he's taken steps to closing it. I'm sick of the whole establishment in DC and elsewhere, all the people that block it are more to blame than Obama himself to be honest. I fault him for continuing the useless "War on Terror," which harms way more people than Gitmo or other secret prisons (not that it makes it okay to keep them open, they're a stain on our country's history). If he had stuck to his guns about bringing all the troops home and ending the war, it would clear the way to closing Guantanamo Bay.
The reason they now can not be tried in a Federal court. The article (think you had to use the read more) shows that Republicans passed bills to prevent their trials in the Fed. Courts.
I actually read the whole thing. You misunderstood my first post. I wasn't asking specifically why we can't, I know there's been a ton of roadblocks thrown up. Like I said before, my problem is with the whole system. My question of "why can't they try them federally" was more directed at them. Ideologically, I feel like they should be tried in a criminal court. The mayor or whoever it was in NYC that changed his mind and said the process is too "risky" is bullshit in my mind. My point is, we've put on trial serial killers and rapists, plenty of our own citizens that do despicable things, and they get to go to criminal trial to be judged by a jury of their peers. Why can't we do that with these prisoners?
They can't be tried by a jury of their peers, they're not U.S. citizens and are being charged with crimes that make them enemy combatants. The average rapist or killer does not have an army of suicidal jihadists that could attempt to inflict death and destruction on the population of whatever city the Federal trial is held in. I'd like to see them tried and convicted in NYC, but my better judgement tells me otherwise.
Well as far as the hearing's rough start...What they're doing to those people in Guantanamo is an experiment. They're testing torture methods and trying to see how far they can go without actually killing them, while also testing American and Global public reaction. The defendants are acting as irrational as anyone would in that situation. They're probably feeling something terrible (cold and shakey) because it has already been decided what is going to happen to them. Human Beings have instincts, and they know when their lives are in danger. On the use of a Military Court and Obama...A Federal Court would afford the Defendants Constitutional Rights and many better methods of legal defense. I also think those behind this are scared of how an American Jury's emotions might get the best of them and lead to a less harsh or more humane verdict (not capital punishment). Obama made a strong public statement with his attempt to close Gitmo, but the blockade he faced proves that he is not running the show. There are some globally powerful and wealthy people behind the decisions in this case, and they're going to blackmail and bribe what they want out of it. That equation of politics and economics goes beyond this matter...
They do not recognize the courts of the United States, so there's no point in giving them any kind of Federal trial. This thing is going to drag on and on for years, and they're they're making a mockery of the proceedings - and will do so in Federal court as well. At GITMO, they've got DVD's and books, a soccer field, halal food including fresh baked pita bread every day, prayer and religous service rights, free comprehensive medical including surgery (which many working Amercans do not have), dental care including dental implants (which most Americans can't afford for themselves and insurance does not cover) and other luxuries. Some of them have said that they do not want to go back to their home nations, where they are wanted for various reasons - they never had it so good. Remember, these people are accused terrorists responsible for heinous crimes and we have to give them a trial - but not a paradise.
Obviously the United States Government doesn't even recognize their own Constitution or the Geneva Convention. This will probably go on for years, because it is a part of something huge in world history. You never know how things could change in the future. I gotta admit, as opposed to where I was locked up in America for about a year, the nighttime prayer chanting next to the ocean at Guantanamo that I saw on TV looked appealing, but all of those accommodations mean nothing when you are being tortured. Remember, these human beings are being detained indefinately and haven't even been proven to have committed a crime.
I would argue that the US government is afraid of what the defendants will say in court. By having the trial in a military court they can censure what they do not want the US public to find out. When one of the defendants attempted to take off his shirt to show the judge the scars he had as a result of torture at the hands of the US government he was ordered to sit down. The REAL reason that this is not in a federal courtroom has nothing to do with a Rep/Dem power struggle or security concerns. It is because of the torture used to attain evidence from the defendants, this would result in said evidence being inadmissable. The US military and government are belittling and making a mockery of the 9/11 victims and families. Bumbling Obama bumbles again.