Interesting. According to the AP (and others), five Gitmo detainees will be tried in a civilian court in New York for the 9/11 attacks. Among these detainees will apparently be Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who purportedly confessed to masterminding the attacks after severe waterboarding. Which raises all sorts of evidentiary issues, as Charlie Savage of the New York Times points out:
The decisions about how to prosecute Mr. Mohammed and Mr. Nashiri have been particularly difficult because their defense lawyers are expected to argue that they were illegally tortured by the Central Intelligence Agency during their confinement, tainting any evidence gathered from their interrogations.
In addition to the civilian trial(s), five others will be sent to a brig (probably in South Carolina) for trial before a military commission. Attorney General Eric Holder is expected to make an official announcement at 11a today.
This announcement, like the under-reported news that President Obama has sent war planners back to the table to come up with better ideas about Afghanistan, signals a potential shift in Obama’s resolve. Neither decision will be politically popular, and we haven’t seen Obama flex his muscles in quite a while.
