Opinion

Benghazi justice

Good for President Obama — and the team of Special Forces and FBI agents that pulled off a secret raid in Libya to capture a man who helped direct the 2012 attack in which our ambassador and three other Americans were murdered.

As a result of their daring and bravery, Ahmed Abu-Khattala, who was seen by eyewitnesses directing that assault, is now in custody. Khattala is a leader of Ansar al-Sharia, an Islamist group whose aim is to impose strict sharia law on all Libya.

For the past year or so, he has lived openly in Libya, taunting America from Benghazi cafés by giving interviews to news organizations from CNN to The New York Times.

Unfortunately, rather than being sent to Guantanamo to be properly interrogated and put before a military tribunal, he will be tried before our criminal courts.

We appreciate the president has always maintained terrorism is a matter for law enforcement.

But manifestly it’s time to reconsider that approach, not least in light of developments including the likelihood that all the achievements in Iraq hard-bought with the sacrifices of our troops may now be lost to a resurgent al-Qaeda offshoot.

In his own statement on Khattala’s capture, Obama vowed to “remain vigilant against all acts of terrorism.”

Which invites the question: Is Khattala really a criminal — or is he an enemy combatant?

Pace Hillary Clinton’s crack during hearings, the answers to the questions raised by Benghazi really do matter for the security of the American people.

So we congratulate the president for capturing Khattala. We hope it brings some comfort to the families of the murdered.

But if the White House has no plans for a serious and ongoing interrogation of this enemy commander for vital intelligence he can provide, wouldn’t a Hellfire missile have sent a better message about what happens to jihadis with American blood on their hands?