Like many New Yorkers and members of the families of the nearly 3,000 innocent Americans murdered on that horrific Tuesday morning eight years ago, I’m outraged and insulted by President Obama’s decision to transfer Khalid Sheik Mohammed, the admitted mastermind of the 9/11 attacks, to New York City for trial in civilian federal court.
The decision will go down in history as one of the worst made by any US president. While it may be hailed by Europeans, the ACLU and the far-left-wing of the Democratic Party, the president’s action actually threatens American lives and weakens US national security.
By transferring KSM and four of his fellow conspirators from the impenetrable detention facility at Guantanamo Bay to lower Manhattan, the president creates an enormous, unnecessary terror risk to the people who already live and work downtown. Now, these terrorists will join them — mere blocks from Ground Zero, City Hall, police headquarters and the Brooklyn Bridge.
VIDEO: 9/11 SUSPECTS TO BE TRIED IN NY
While I have the utmost respect for and confidence in the NYPD and US Marshals Service, these terrorists’ new home and the courthouse in which they’ll be tried will immediately move to the top of al Qaeda’s target list — requiring significant local resources to protect the city that is already a top target.
Unfortunately, President Obama may have set into motion a process that could result in Khalid Sheik Mohammed walking free. By moving his and the other cases from the military-commission system to the civilian courts, the president has granted KSM constitutional rights — which defense attorneys will certainly seek to exploit in order to bog down the pace of the judicial process.
Whenever the case actually comes to trial, we’re likely to see a circus-like proceeding potentially lasting years, in which the attorneys will undoubtedly try to paint the brave and selfless US military and intelligence community as the terrorists.
The cases against these and other terrorists are, not surprisingly, based significantly on classified intelligence gathered over many years. By prosecuting these men in civilian court instead of a military commission, the government will have a more difficult time protecting the sources and methods of gathering that intelligence — disclosure of which would place American lives in jeopardy.
For example, a civilian court judge could throw out Khalid Sheik Mohammed’s confession because the intelligence operatives who captured him failed to read him Miranda rights. The bottom line is that, because of Obama’s decision yesterday, KSM could be acquitted for any of a host of reasons — both foreseeable and unforeseeable.
Perhaps President Obama knew how insulting and unpopular his decision to welcome terrorists to America would be. News of the decision came from Attorney General Eric Holder on a Friday (the day folks in Washington always dump their “bad” news) while the president himself was in Japan — 14 time zones from Ground Zero and the families who still mourn lost loved ones.
As a man who promised transparency and integrity during his campaign, President Obama should have personally announced his decision. That was the least he could have done for the families of the 9/11 victims, New Yorkers and all Americans who will never forget the day al Qaeda attacked our nation.
Rep. Peter King (R-LI) is the ranking member on the House Homeland Security Committee.