9/11

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Holder Struggles to Defend 9/11 Trial Decisions

“This is war,” said Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.). “I think the decision you’ve made to try these cases in federal court represents a policy and political decision.”


Khalid Shaikh Mohammed Will Never Ever Be Set Free in the United States

Of all the talking points emerging from the conservative side about the 9/11 trials, the prospect of attack architect Khalid Shaikh Mohammed getting set free in the U.S. is perhaps the most far-fetched, at least until the next round of trials are announced. I didn’t take it seriously enough to debunk, but The American Prospect’s [...]


9/11 Families Group Supports Trying Conspirators in New York

This comes from September Eleventh Families for Peaceful Tomorrows, a survivors’ group that has urged the Obama administration to shut down Guantanamo Bay:
We, the members of September Eleventh Families for Peaceful Tomorrows, support the Attorney General’s decision to bring the trials of the five individuals currently accused of plotting the attacks of Sept 11, 2001 [...]


What’s the Point of Those Military Commissions Again?

Yesterday’s announcement that the Obama administration will try Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and the other 9/11 suspects in federal court has been hailed as everything from “an important step forward for justice” by Human Rights Watch to “a step backwards for the security of our country [that] puts Americans unnecessarily at risk” by Senate Minority Leader [...]


KSM and 9/11 Co-Conspirators to Face Trial in N.Y. Federal Court

After much delay and speculation, the Obama administration has reportedly decided to try the alleged co-conspirators of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in a civilian federal court in New York. That’s a significant defeat for some lawmakers, who had hoped to ban the men from civilian courts and force their trial in military commissions.


Fort Hood Shooting Suspect Unlikely to Get Death Penalty

Crimes that occur on military bases are usually heard in the military justice system. But while that may sound harsher than a civilian court, the sentences usually turn out to be more lenient.
The result is that Maj. Nidal Hasan, the Army psychiatrist who allegedly gunned down 13 people at the military base in Texas last [...]


CAP: Postpone Gitmo Close, Send Leftovers to Bagram

The influential Center for American Progress, which has close ties to the Obama administration, is now calling on President Obama to push back the closing of the Guantanamo Bay detention center to July. That’s despite the president’s day-two directive to close the notorious prison by January. Closure has been impeded by the inability to send [...]


Senate Kills Graham Amendment

The Senate just tabled the amendment proposed by Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) that would have prohibited use of Justice Department funds to prosecute the 9/11 terror suspects in U.S. federal courts. Effectively, that means it’s dead.
The amendment, S.A. 2669, to the Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, would have forced the government to [...]


Graham Amendment Would Bar Trials of Terror Suspects in Federal Court

When I wrote my earlier post about the group of illustrious Americans urging the Obama administration to close Guantanamo and bring suspected terrorists to justice in U.S. federal courts, I neglected to mention that Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), joined by Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Jim Webb (D-Va.), is today pushing a measure [...]


Government Won’t Appeal Gitmo Detainee’s Habeas Case — but Military Commission Charges Still Pending

Fouad al Rabiah, a Kuwaiti Airways engineer accused of being an aide to Osama bin Laden who recently won his habeas corpus case in federal court, is a step closer to going home. McClatchy newspapers reports that the 50-year-old father of four was moved to the part of the Guantanamo detention center reserved for detainees [...]