Comments on: NYC Trial Of High-level Terror Masterminds Will Violate Civil Liberties — Of Americans http://www.heatherrobinson.net/commentary/2010/02/09/nyc-trial-of-high-level-terror-masterminds-will-violate-civil-liberties-of-americans/ Journalist - Middle East Commentator Sat, 11 Feb 2012 00:52:49 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.2.3 By: Erik B. http://www.heatherrobinson.net/commentary/2010/02/09/nyc-trial-of-high-level-terror-masterminds-will-violate-civil-liberties-of-americans/#comment-23507 Erik B. Tue, 23 Feb 2010 04:55:40 +0000 http://www.heatherrobinson.net/commentary/2010/02/09/nyc-trial-of-high-level-terror-masterminds-will-violate-civil-liberties-of-americans/#comment-23507 <b>Update</b> on this important issue: <b>Holder Forcefully Defends Criminal Justice System After Terrorist Guilty Plea</b> <i> Attorney General Eric Holder forcefully defended the criminal justice system as a venue to try terrorists on Monday, following the guilty plea his department secured from a terrorist suspect who had plotted to blow up the New York City subway system. Speaking shortly after Najibullah Zazi pleaded guilty to counts of conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction, commit murder in a foreign country, and provide material support to al-Qaeda, Holder touted the ability of the criminal justice system to pry intelligence - and secure strong verdicts - in cases like this and others. "As I have stated on other occasions, the criminal justice system also contains powerful incentives to induce pleas that yield long sentences and gain intelligence that can be used in the fight against Al Qaeda," he said. "We will use all available tools whenever possible against suspected terrorists." Under siege over the past month for his decision to try 9/11-plotter Kahlid Sheik Mohammad in a criminal court in Manhattan, the Zazi plea was undoubtedly a refreshing bit of news for the Holder Department of Justice. An American citizen who was recruited by al Qaeda while fighting for Taliban troops in Pakistan, Zazi had plotted to set off a bomb in the New York City subway system this past fall. Authorities were able to intervene in time and, in the process, uncovered what they described as useful intelligence from his correspondence with al Qaeda. Coming at roughly the same time as the decision to hold the KSM trials in New York, Zazi's case has not, similarly, been treated as a proxy battle over the efficacy of placing suspected terrorists in the criminal justice system. On Monday, however, Holder made the case that the guilty plea provided as solid example as any that the civilian system was equipped to handle terrorist threats. "This demonstrates that our federal civilian criminal justice system... is a powerful tool in our fight against terrorism," he said. "It doesn't mean it is the only tool we should use. We have to couple it with what we do on the military side, what we do on the intelligence gathering side. But to take this tool out of our hands, to denigrate the use of this tool, flies in the face of the facts, flies in the face of the history of the use of this tool. It is more politics than about facts. " </i> http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/02/22/holder-forcefully-defends_n_472362.html Update on this important issue:

Holder Forcefully Defends Criminal Justice System After Terrorist Guilty Plea

Attorney General Eric Holder forcefully defended the criminal justice system as a venue to try terrorists on Monday, following the guilty plea his department secured from a terrorist suspect who had plotted to blow up the New York City subway system.

Speaking shortly after Najibullah Zazi pleaded guilty to counts of conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction, commit murder in a foreign country, and provide material support to al-Qaeda, Holder touted the ability of the criminal justice system to pry intelligence - and secure strong verdicts - in cases like this and others.

“As I have stated on other occasions, the criminal justice system also contains powerful incentives to induce pleas that yield long sentences and gain intelligence that can be used in the fight against Al Qaeda,” he said. “We will use all available tools whenever possible against suspected terrorists.”

Under siege over the past month for his decision to try 9/11-plotter Kahlid Sheik Mohammad in a criminal court in Manhattan, the Zazi plea was undoubtedly a refreshing bit of news for the Holder Department of Justice.

An American citizen who was recruited by al Qaeda while fighting for Taliban troops in Pakistan, Zazi had plotted to set off a bomb in the New York City subway system this past fall. Authorities were able to intervene in time and, in the process, uncovered what they described as useful intelligence from his correspondence with al Qaeda.

Coming at roughly the same time as the decision to hold the KSM trials in New York, Zazi’s case has not, similarly, been treated as a proxy battle over the efficacy of placing suspected terrorists in the criminal justice system. On Monday, however, Holder made the case that the guilty plea provided as solid example as any that the civilian system was equipped to handle terrorist threats.

“This demonstrates that our federal civilian criminal justice system… is a powerful tool in our fight against terrorism,” he said. “It doesn’t mean it is the only tool we should use. We have to couple it with what we do on the military side, what we do on the intelligence gathering side. But to take this tool out of our hands, to denigrate the use of this tool, flies in the face of the facts, flies in the face of the history of the use of this tool. It is more politics than about facts. ”

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/02/22/holder-forcefully-defends_n_472362.html

]]> By: Pedro Maia http://www.heatherrobinson.net/commentary/2010/02/09/nyc-trial-of-high-level-terror-masterminds-will-violate-civil-liberties-of-americans/#comment-23504 Pedro Maia Sat, 13 Feb 2010 21:09:23 +0000 http://www.heatherrobinson.net/commentary/2010/02/09/nyc-trial-of-high-level-terror-masterminds-will-violate-civil-liberties-of-americans/#comment-23504 Its all about the bubble, about living in the bubble. People just like to be there in this confy position where they are pure unstained white and they are so much higher and can throw others with the rotten tomatoes. About the fence... well, I have had my share of GCC by now and I don't see the historical point of the state of Israel. Do you see the Roma people taking Romania for themselves? And wouldn't that upset the states surrounding Romania if the newly created state was backed not by its own strength but by... shall we say Russia. And wouldn't all the nations in the world see this move as a colonialist move by Russia to gain power in the region? Historically the Jewish local tribes were quite amicable with the surrounding arabs. The problem began with the massive influx during the '1910s, when it became a British protectorate. And sorry but I just don't understand the Jerusalem thing. Is like me going after the turks because they took over Hagia Sofia, who by the way was the biggest church in the world prior to be refurbished. No, we don't do that. A religion is not equivalent to a estate, specially if this state is not organic in the region were it stands. So lets drop the fence ok? And welcome all the neighbours. Some will bring bombs but most of them will bring joy. Nice blog, keep going with it. Its all about the bubble, about living in the bubble. People just like to be there in this confy position where they are pure unstained white and they are so much higher and can throw others with the rotten tomatoes. About the fence… well, I have had my share of GCC by now and I don’t see the historical point of the state of Israel. Do you see the Roma people taking Romania for themselves? And wouldn’t that upset the states surrounding Romania if the newly created state was backed not by its own strength but by… shall we say Russia. And wouldn’t all the nations in the world see this move as a colonialist move by Russia to gain power in the region? Historically the Jewish local tribes were quite amicable with the surrounding arabs. The problem began with the massive influx during the ‘1910s, when it became a British protectorate. And sorry but I just don’t understand the Jerusalem thing. Is like me going after the turks because they took over Hagia Sofia, who by the way was the biggest church in the world prior to be refurbished. No, we don’t do that. A religion is not equivalent to a estate, specially if this state is not organic in the region were it stands. So lets drop the fence ok? And welcome all the neighbours. Some will bring bombs but most of them will bring joy. Nice blog, keep going with it.

]]>