Bush League U.S.A.

There'll be fires on the road
and the white man dancing
You'll see a woman
hanging upside down
her features covered by her fallen gown
--The Future, Leonard Cohen
________________

More on Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, though not the last word.

The beginning of the KSM trial marks the start of a new era in United States jurisprudence, the certification that we have truly become a banana republic -- full-on Bush League. Since we have more people incarcerated than did the Stalin era Soviet system, an organic growth issuing from that is we would have fantasy trials lacking legal precedent that abandon the concept of the right to be proven guilty, which would imply the right to defend oneself against charges.

One cannot defend oneself when hamstrung. KSM may not challenge the validity of evidence collected during his torture. He will not confront a presumption of innocence and a standard of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. Ergo, he is guilty before presumed innocent.

These bedrock defining elements of the U.S. trial system will be missing from the KSM trial because both of the U.S.'s warlord presidents have indicated that some men are too dangerous to ever be freed from Guantanamo Bay. As KSM is one of those men, the initial presumption of his guilty status makes a mockery of the entire judicial process.

Worldwide and historically-speaking, military tribunals seldom if ever meet the standards of civilized concepts of justice. When KSM is convicted by his tribunal it is we, the American people, who will bear the guilt of this sad chapter in the tale of misguided American actions.

Takedown

Well, a question ain't really a question
If you know the answer too
--Far From Me, JohnPrine
_____________________

"Al-Qaida Fighter Possible Witness at NYC Trial"

--AP Headline

Ranger Question of the Day:

When did al-Qaida become fighters

and not terrorists?

_____________________

A recent book on Khalid Sheikh Mohammed is titled, "The Hunt for KSM: Inside the Pursuit and Takedown of the Real 9-11 Mastermind". Why Takedown, and not "arrest" or "apprehension" -- isn't that what the U.S. does to criminals, even masterminds?

The term "capture" is also used to apply to U.S. law enforcement's efforts, but even that is incorrect. We capture enemies on a battlefield, which also implies they are legitimate Prisoners of War. After all, the U.S. did declare the entire world as the battlefield in this war.

The mistaken use of the terms reflects a confused policy. With KSM, there was no justification to waterboard the man 183 times, even if he were the devil's spawn. Additionally weakening our vaunted values is the policy of holding anyone for 9+ years sans benefit of legal process. While it was recently announced that KSM will soon face military tribunal, this does not imply an endpoint to his story.

Why do we insist KSM be tried by a closed and opaque military tribunal? The idea of achieving fairness is futile when the topic is so emotive. What is being kept from public view? What does he know that makes him so dangerous? How can we say we are a nation of laws when we operate like frontier vigilantes?

What is the point in a trial in which the verdict is a foregone conclusion? He cannot achieve justice when he will not be allowed to testify publicly about his detention conditions. In fact, this trial will be merely an outward manifestation of our lust for vengeance. KSM is not facing a trial, but rather, a kangaroo court. Even if he were to be found not guilty, President Obama would not release him.

This trial is not about KSM but a phony war that has designated the world its battlefield. KSM's actions may represent mindless violence, but our insane reactivity exceeds his. If the U.S. is not different, than what is the war about? KSM's story will not end until the U.S. authorities responsible for his torture are delivered to a Federal courthouse to answer for their torture policy and disregard for the core values of our society.

As an aside, KSM was educated in the States; 41% of current Massachusetts Institute of Technology students on foreigner on visas in information technology, lasers and aeronautics. This is good news for KSM's replacement.

KSM's efforts were miniscule compared to the self-inflicted injury we have committed upon our body politic.

Nature of the Beast

Oily Terror
_______________

Even a lefty paper can't get it right.

"Even if the White House loses on the Mohammed trial because of its poisonous politics, President Obama has to insist on maintaining the long proven system of trying terrorism cases in federal court. People captured in battle may, of course, be held as military prisoners."

There is no "may" to it: Those captured in battle are covered by the Geneva Conventions and must be treated with due diligence -- no standard solitary confinement, waterboarding, humiliating acts, secreting them off, etc.

Regarding NYC rejecting venue for the trial:

"While Mr. Holder blew the politics, he was right about the policy. Apart from the principle, the military tribunals don’t have the experience, rules or qualified lawyers for such a case (The K.S.M. Files)."

Nor do they have jurisdiction. If they were captured in battle, they are Prisoners of War, plain and simple. If they were arrested carrying out non-military crimes of terror, then the alleged perpetrators do not come under the purview of military courts. Terrorists are seldom, if ever, captured on the field of battle since this is not the nature of the beast.

Military courts are precisely that, and should not address any activity not military in nature. It is duplicitous to say Khalid Sheikh Mohammed is a military court candidate since he planned the attack on the Pentagon; what proof do we have of the allegation that did not flow from a water tap?

The threat facing the U.S. is not terrorism, but rather the overreaction to terrorism. It is wrong to believe that Secret Courts or secretive military tribunals are the tool to legally deal with arrested terrorists.

If one of modern history's greatest criminal enterprises -- Nazi Germany -- was dealt with via open trials, then so can this openness be applied to the crime of terrorism. When trials are secretive and evidentiary rules downplayed, the U.S. loses and the terrorists score a new victory.

KSM will remain a hero regardless of his treatment by the U.S. to a portion of the world's population, therefore, U.S. efforts to vilify or humiliate him will continue to be counterproductive.

Why is the U.S. unwilling or unable to deal in a rational, legal way with this issue? What are we hiding from? If truth and justice is the product of our legal system, it is time to turn the cards face up.

Eagle Scout

The only photo we ever get of Khalid Shaikh Mohammed,
Looking like one of Tony Soprano's unter-lieutenants after
a huge bender

But there's shit that I've done
with this fuck of a gun
You would cry out your eyes all along
--Mama, My Chemical Romance
_______________

Khalid Shaikh Mohammed (KSM) should get a Boy Scout merit badge for being the Eagle Scout of Waterboarding.

The 2005 memo also says that the C.I.A. used waterboarding 183 times in March 2003 against Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the self-described planner of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks (Waterboarding Used 266 on 2 Subjects).

183 times. Surely he has earned a place in the Guinness Book of World Records. 183 times cannot be due to intelligence gathering by the waterboarders. It seems nothing but punitive. I have read that if the suspect does not break by the second attempt, he will never.

When will KSM be brought to trial? If the intelligence obtained was so valuable, why is it not being utilized in legal proceedings? Oh, I forgot -- by Mr. Rumsfeld's estimates, democracy is a dark and arcane process, even here.

The concept of trying the alleged perpetrators of 9-11 has apparently been dropped off the board. What happened to the concept of trial by jury? We could even waterboard him in open court, since no one gets prosecuted for it.

We can understand KSM -- he is a crazy man. But not the CIA; their actions surpass rationality. KSM is a criminally crazy crusader. What is the CIA?

By extension, what are we?

The Next Step

How do you solve a problem like Maria?
How do you catch a cloud and pin it down?
--Maria, Rogers and Hammerstein
______________

It is all fine and well that we close the Gitmo detainee facility, but what do you do with truly dangerous men like Khalid Sheikh Mohammed (KSM)?

KSM can never be prosecuted in Federal court because his treatment following capture would outrage the court and the world. Therefore, he will never be legally convicted.

To boot, he is not a prisoner of war, so what to with him?

Option I: Send him back to Pakistan for legal resolution.

Option II: Release him. And do it right the next time.

Option III: Shoot him when he is trying to escape.

Option IV: Drown him for real.

Option V: Hire him as a Central Intelligence Agency consultant (assuming he is not already on the books.)

These are just options, but it is not in our democratic tradition to keep him locked up indefinitely without charges or a fair and transparent trial. Ranger sees no option but to release him or turn him over to Pakistan. Even the Pakistan card is a weak one.

And since there was no conviction, let's get the reward money back, too.