To begin with, I refuse to refer to Khalid Sheikh Mohammed as KSM. He's not JFK, LBJ or even GWB. We didn't confer "initial" status on Ted Bundy or Charlie Manson. We didn't call John Wayne Gacy "JWG". That's all Khalid Sheikh Mohammed is after all; a cold-eyed mass murderer. He's not a creepy intellectual like Hannibal Lecter. Not a brilliant psycho in the mold of Lex Luthor. He isn't even scary to look at, although that arrest photo makes you glad he's not sitting next to you on the subway. Take away the flowing robes, the Islamic rhetoric and the al Qaeda mystique and he's just another thug with a bomb.
And what do we do with murderers like Mohammed here in the good old U.S. of A.? You're damn right. We give 'em a fair trial and hang 'em. Why then are we so afraid of giving Mohammed a trial in New York? What terrible evil do we imagine he might reign down on Manhattan? Hell, he's already killed 3,000 people and destroyed several square blocks of real estate. I'm guessing he's already taken his best shot.
Nevertheless, the hand-wringing over the Justice Department's decision to try Mohammed in New York has been disturbing. Rudy Giuliani, desperate for any, and I mean any, issue that might possibly resonate with voters, any voters, has voiced his disapproval. He feels, as many do, that Mohammed is a terrorist. Terrorist is a fuzzy word meant to strike fear in the hearts of our citizens, like the bogey man. According to Republicans, a terrorist is any person unworthy of a trial or status as a prisoner of war. According to Giuliani, terrorists should be locked away forever without trial, without rights, without access to a defense. Presumably, Mr. Giuliani would accord Maj. Hasan of recent Ft. Hood fame the same status. Certainly his actions were those of a terrorist. In his slide toward obscurity and irrelevance, poor Rudy is grasping at any issue that might earn him a line or two in the press. This assertion that New York City isn't up to a trial will do nothing to improve voter turnout should he be deluded enough to run for Governor or Senator.
Michael Mukasey, the last of George Bush's Attorneys' General, feels that a trial in New York is just too hard. He thinks that the trial might make New York a target. Holy 9-11 Batman! Don't we think that horse is already out of the barn? Of course N.Y. is a target. That's why they hit us there. New York's vulnerability won't be lessened if we change the venue to Tupelo.
Mukasey also speculates that security in New York might not be up to the challenge. Honestly? New York has 36,000 police officers. They might take umbrage at the notion they can't lock down one scruffy Arab. Where does Mr. Mukasey think the trial could be held? Apalachicola? Reno? Fairbanks?
We have also heard from that noted constitutional scholar John Yoo, formerly of the Bush Dungeons and Dragons Justice Department. Mr. Yoo will be forever remembered for the memos that showed how the Founding Fathers specifically encouraged torturing people we don't like. Yoo disapproves of the New York trial of Mr. Mohammed on the grounds that testimony and cross examination will reveal details of America's intelligence apparatus.He thinks some stealthy, star-chamber prosecution is the answer. Mr. Yoo is currently lecturing at UC Berkeley using balloon folding to show how to manipulate the Constitution.
Seriously, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed is a murderer; nothing more. His crime might have been noteworthy, but he isn't. Every time some bed-wetting politician attempts to curry favor with conservative America by excessively demonizing him, it only enhances his status among his followers. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed should be tried in New York because that is where the crime was committed. He should sit in shackles in an orange jumpsuit and be tried. (Possibly not by a jury of his peers.) He should get a fair trial, be judged and, if guilty, be sentenced. This is America. We are not afraid of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. He is not bigger than two hundred years of Constitutional Law. The justice that he and his followers deny to others will be the justice that does him in. We are not doing this because of who Khalid Sheikh Mohammed is. We're doing it because it's who we are.
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