By Ellen Cannon
The debate over where and how to proceed with regard to the trials of terrorist detainees has become a “red-hot” issue in the U.S. Congress. The context for this issue exploding in the U.S. Senate today centered on the July 5th indictment of a Somali citizen -- Ahmed Abdulkadir Warsame -- on nine counts in New York’s federal court. The nine counts against him include providing money, training, communications equipment and personnel to two of the most dangerous terrorist groups, Al Shabaab and Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. Warsame is thought to be a mid-level leader in al-Shabaab who worked to “broker a deal with al-Qaeda and was involved in teaching, demonstrating, and making explosives, destructive devices, and weapons of mass destruction. Information that U.S. intelligence can garner from him is critical in that he is considered to be acting as a conduit between - Al-Shabaab and Al-Qaeda. This dangerous terrorist interrelationship, which is growing in strength and mobilization capacity, poses a great threat to the homeland. (Ellen Cannon, “Somali Man Charged with Being a Conduit between Al-Shabaab and Al Qaeda,” examiner.com, July 6, 2011)
A partisan debate is continuing to boil in Congress as to whether terrorist detainees should be tried in U.S. courts with the rights of U.S. citizens extended to alleged terrorists or at the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where a military tribunal would take place.
This debate has recently taken place between U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder who favors the civilian court route and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell(R-KY) who favors the military tribunal route at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. (Ellen Cannon, “KY’s Terrorism Case Pits Sen. McConnell against A.G. Holder,examiner.com June 13, 2011 and Ellen Cannon, “Senator Paul says VSP Program is Putting U.S. In Grave danger, examiner.com, June 26, 2011)
For the last few weeks the focus of this debate was a terrorist trial in the quiet college town of Bowling Green, Kentucky where two citizens from Iraq are on trial for conspiring to send weapons and money to Al Qaeda in Iraq. Senator McConnell and Senator Rand Paul as well as Kentucky state and local officials ardently called on Mr. Holder to move the trial from Kentucky.
Today, the focus of the debate became far more charged and defined when Senator McConnell took to the floor of the Senate to make a speech regarding the administration’s handling of the latest Somali terrorist case.
According to Donna Cassata of the AP,”Senator Mitch McConnell assailed the administration’s decision, arguing that the Somali citizen belongs at the U.S.prison at Guantanamo Bay Cuba, where he could be tried by a military tribunal.” Senator McConnell stated, “The administration has purposefully imported a terrorist into the U.S. and is providing him all the rights of U.S. citizens in court. This ideological rigidity being displayed by the administration is harming the national security of the United States of America.”…Why? Why? Why is a man, who is a known terrorist and enemy of the U.S. being afforded these protections?...And now, he is in the hands of the civilian authorities and will be given the all the rights accorded to a U.S. citizen in a civilian court.”(“GOP leader criticizes handling of Somali suspect, July 6,2011)
Donna Cassata writes “that Senator McConnell’s words drew an immediate rebuke from Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois, the number 2 Democrat in the Senate, who pointed out that under the administrations of Rebublican President George W. Bush and Obama more than 400 suspected terrorists have been tried in civilian courts in the U.S. and are serving time in U.S. prison.” Durbin’s rebuke specifically stated, “To come here and second guess the president because he’s held a man for two months in military interrogation and now is being prosecuted in our criminal courts is totally unfair, unfair because the same standard was not applied to the Republican president who tried hundreds of would-be terrorists, accused terrorists in our criminal courts successfully.”(for details on the case see Ellen Cannon, examiner.com July 6, 2011)
Adding to this partisan debate over civilian trials vs. military tribunals is the statement issued by Rep. Peter King (R-NY), chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee. Agreeing with Senate Minority Leader McConnell, Rep. King stated, “ Warsame belongs at Guantanamo, not in a civilian court. Underscoring the same concerns elected officials expressed in Kentucky, King further expressed concerns about security costs for police and possible disruptions stemming from a trial in New York. Rep. King stated, “He is not an American citizen, nor did his criminal acts or his detention occur in the U.S. He is a Somali who traveled to Yemen for terror training. Warsame is a foreigner and an unlawful enemy combatant.”
This debate will continue with each new terrorist indictment.
Comments