Bowling Green City Commission to Weigh In On Kentucky Terror Trial
By Ellen Cannon
The terror trial in the quiet Kentucky town of Bowling Green has stirred a local, state and national debate. On Tuesday, July 5 the Bowling Green city commission will vote on a resolution opposing the location of an upcoming terror trial which as of now is planned to be held in a civilian court in Bowling Green, KY. The commission, along, with Kentucky’s two U.S. Senators strongly support moving the trial out of Kentucky. This pits them against U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and the Justice Department who are committed to holding the trial in a Bowling Green.
Waad Ramadan Alwan, 30, and Mohanad Shereef Hammadi 23, the alleged terrorists at the center of this legal drama are Iraqis refugees living in Bowling Green. They were indicted for plotting to send sniper rifles; rocket-propelled grenede launchers, explosives and money back to Iraq to be used in attacks on U.S. troops. Alwan is charged in a 23 count indictment with conspiracy to kill a U.S. national, conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction and attempting to provide material support for terrorists. Hammadi is charged with knowingly transferring, possessing or exporting a devise designed or intended to launch or guide a rocket or missile. (Ellen Cannon, examiner.com, KY’s terrorism case pits Sen. McConnell against Eric Holder)
Warren-County Judge Executive, Mike Buchanan stated that this small college town, which is also home to Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) “feels exposed since the alleged terrorists were arrested. He further stated “that folks are worried about becoming a soft target for terrorists”.
Strongly urging that upcoming trial be a military tribunal held at Guantanamo Bay Cuba, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) stated,” I am calling for the administration to get these men out of Kentucky.” He is concerned about the security to the town and the state as well as the costs and disruptions that a civilian trial could possibly bring to the community.
Senator Rand Paul is also enraged. His focus is not only on the disruption to Bowling Green, his hometown, but the larger security question of how the two men gained entry into the U.S. He has called on the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee to hold hearings on the U.S. visa process to carefully examine the missteps and gaps that permitted their entry especially when a fingerprint security check should have caught that one of the alleged man’s fingerprints matched those found on an exploded IED in Iraq. How he asked, is it possible for the DHS to miss this linkage and provide such a person with a visa?”(Ellen Cannon, “Senator Rand Paul Says VSP Program Putting U.S. In Grave Danger,” June 25, 2011,examiner.com)
Bowling Green Mayor, Joe Denning, and Commissioner Melinda Hall support the resolution to move the trial out of Bowling Green.
Among the voices that strongly oppose the objective of the proposed resolution is U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and U.S. Attorney David Hale, the top federal prosecutor for the western half of Kentucky. The issue they contend, rests on the question, can alleged terrorists be convicted of terrorist related offenses in a civilian court or should they be charged by a military tribunal? Holder and Hale contend that civilian courts have proven capable of handling hundreds of cases successfully. In addition, Mr. Hale notes that these hundreds of cases and convictions resulted in neither retaliatory attacks or escaped prisoners.
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