Eight years later…
9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheik Mohammed and four al Qaeda co-conspirators are headed to Manhattan to face a civilian trial in federal court — and a possible death sentence — just blocks from hallowed Ground Zero. Attorney General Eric Holder yesterday said the five terror thugs will be shipped from the American base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where they had been facing a military commission for the evil plot that slaughtered nearly 3,000 people at the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and in western Pennsylvania.
Holder’s decision immediately was met with praise by supporters of civilian trials for terrorists. But it also drew howls from others who argue that military commissions are the right place to deal with fiends engaged in attacks on America — and that trying them in a civilian court in lower Manhattan will put the city at great risk.
“After eight years of delay, those allegedly responsible for the attacks of September the 11th will finally face justice,” said Holder. “I am confident in the ability of our courts to provide these defendants a fair trial, just as they have for over 200 years. I also want to assure the American people that we will prosecute these cases vigorously, and we will pursue the maximum punishment available.
“I fully expect to direct prosecutors to seek the death penalty against each of the alleged 9/11 conspirators.”
At the same time, Holder said that five other detainees at Guantanamo, among them a main suspect in the 2000 bombing of the USS Cole in Yemen, will be tried before a military commission.
What about George W. Bush???? SMH.
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