Whose trial is it supposed to be?Khalid Sheik Mohammed or Dick Cheney?

The official reason for trying Khalid Sheik Mohammed, self admitted master mind of the 9/11 attacks which killed 3,000 Americans and leveled the World Trade Center in New York, in federal court, according to Attorney General Eric Holder is because "Justice is long over due for the victims of 9/11."

In a story called "Schumner: 9/11 Trial Could Cost More Than $100 Million" by Don Dahler on wcbstv.com Holder defends his decision to try Mohammed and four other co conspirators in federal court by saying in the end, I did it because I could. "At the end of the day, it was clear to me that the venue in which we are most likely to obtain justice for the American people is in federal court."said Holder in the story.

Critics of his decision in the senate range from  Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), who rightly points out that a civilian court trial in New York could run up a bill of more than 100 million dollars to Senator John Kyl (R-Arizona) who said "How would you be more likely to get a conviction in federal court when Khalid Sheik Mohammed already asked to plead guilty before a military commission and be executed?"

Holder responded to this with "That was that. I don't know what Khalid Sheik Mohammed wants to do now, and I am not going to base a determination on where these cases ought to be brought on what a terrorist wants to do. He will not select the prosecution venue. I will select it and I have."

So why is Attorney General Eric Holder spending millions of tax payer dollars, giving terrorists a stage to play one anti American skit after another on, and trading "a sure thing" in for the uncertainties of a trial?

As his boss, Barack Obama's popularity continues to slide down the slippery slope of Health Care Reform and the rest of an agenda, too radical by far, for many Americans meets more and more resistance, Holder seeks to cater to his party's wavering far left base.

One of the things on the left's shopping list has always been trying  former Vice President Dick Cheney and members of the Bush administration for war crimes. This attempt to get them in court and under oath is the closest they have come so far. As long as this administration gets its boost in the ratings, the cost to the tax payers is not important to them

In the web site, Public Record, in a story called "Cheney Says He May Not Cooperate With Torture Probe If Asked"  by Jason Leopold, written on August 30, 2009, the former Vice President makes some telling points.

 Attorney General Eric Holder's decision to have a federal prosecutor examine one dozen or so cases of torture that U.S. Interrogators allegedly inflicted on suspected terrorist "offends the hell out of me" Cheney said, in the story and expressed reservations about cooperation with Assistant U.S. Attorney John Durham in his probe.

"During and interview on Fox News, Cheney launched a blistering attack on the Obama administration, calling Holder's decision"an outrageous political act" and warned that it "will do great damage, long term, to our capacity to be able to have people take on difficult jobs, make difficult decisions, without having to worry about what the next administration is going to say."

Clearly, the defense will bring up the subject of water boarding and other "enhanced interrogation" techniques. Khalid Sheik Mohammad is said to have been water boarded 183 times. Water boarding is an interrogation  technique that simulates drowning,

The former Vice President also makes the point that this administration has declassified the interrogation techniques the CIA used to gain information, which lets the enemy use this important information in their own training programs.  At the same time, the Obama administration has kept classified the information the CIA gained and the terror attacks that were stopped.

The Obama administration has heavily criticized the policies of former President George Bush and Vice President Cheney, while quietly refusing to give up the power to do the same thing to captured terrorists.

The decision to try Khalid Sheik Mohammad and his 9/11 co conspirators in civilian court stinks of politics and will compromise national security. Since evidence obtained through coercion is in admissible in court a conviction will be harder.

If Holder wins, Obama can claim that he is as hard on terrorists as the Republicans were. If the worst happens and they don't get a death penalty, they can blame in all on George Bush. Regardless, the pin wheel eyed on the left will be happier and the country at least 100 million dollars poorer.