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Editorial: New York will have its day in court

Federal court is the right venue to try 9/11 mastermind.

Last update: November 27, 2009 - 6:14 PM

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A DISSENTING VIEW

"The Obama administration's irresponsible decision to prosecute the mastermind of the Sept. 11 attack in New York City puts the interests of liberal special-interest groups before the safety and security of the American people. The possibility that Khalid Shaikh Mohammed and his coconspirators could be found 'not guilty' due to some legal technicality ... should give every American pause."

House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio

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The United States has taken a giant step toward bringing justice to the actual perpetrators of the 9/11 attacks by scheduling the trials of Khalid Shaikh Mohammed and four others in federal court in New York.

"For over 200 years, our nation has relied on a faithful adherence to the rule of law to bring criminals to justice and provide accountability to victims," Attorney General Eric Holder said in announcing the decision. "Once again, we will ask our legal system to rise to that challenge, and I am confident it will answer the call with fairness and justice."

Since Holder's announcement, many have voiced opposition to the Obama administration's decision, saying the five should be tried in military tribunals.

These concerns are misplaced. The best and only place for mass murderers to be brought to justice is in a public forum.

The cowardly acts of Sept. 11, 2001, represented more than an attack on American citizens and territory. The targets -- the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and the White House -- were chosen as pillars of our society. In the days following the attacks, Americans reacted with outrage and courage, and the country's foundation grew even stronger.

But since then, as we lost sight of who our real enemies were, the Islamist extremists behind Al-Qaida have seemingly earned supervillain status. Opponents of a federal trial argue that we can't try them in New York City because doing so will make the city a terror target again, even though there were no alleged terrorists on trial there on 9/11. They argue that we can't risk housing them in U.S. prisons, even though we already hold convicted terrorists in U.S. prisons. They say we can't allow them to air their hateful rhetoric, even though the library of Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri tapes has not yet brought our nation to its knees. And they seem to forget that we've have successfully put terrorists on trial before, including Timothy McVeigh for the Oklahoma City federal building bombing and Zacarias Moussaoui, the alleged 20th hijacker. And there is no reason to believe this will be an O.J. circus; there are no Judge Itos on the federal bench.

It's time we treat Bin Laden, Al-Zawahiri and Khalid Shaikh Mohammed as who they really are -- thugs running a criminal syndicate, a mafia of the Middle East that seeks to make its victims live their lives in fear and make sacrifices to assuage their tormentors. For us to elevate them to greater status, regardless of the magnitude of the crimes they have perpetrated, is to give them a moral victory.

We must put aside any concerns about trying these five in federal court. These trials are also an opportunity to send a message to those intent on destroying us and those who distrust us -- the United States of America is not a land of kangaroo courts or trials by midnight. Our criminal justice system is the same for anyone accused of a crime.

And it's an opportunity for the city of New York, which bore the brunt of the attacks, to have its day in court. The trial will be tried just blocks away from Ground Zero.

And this verdict already is in: The towers may have come down, but our country's pillars still stand strong.

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