In an order issued Friday night, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin cancel The Biden-Harris administration Shameful plea bargain He would have avoided the death penalty along with the masterminds of the 9/11 attacks.
Austin, who was an Army general before becoming secretary, reserved the authority to make such deals for himself, telling officials in charge of the failed prosecution: He wrote“I immediately revoke your authority to enter into any pretrial agreements in the above-referenced cases and reserve that authority to myself,” he wrote, adding, “I also revoke from the three pretrial agreements you signed on July 31, 2024 in the above-referenced cases.”
Bravo General.
I say “General” instead of “Secretary” as a compliment. When I was discussing with a friend, a retired Navy captain, whether Austin was forced to act this way as a scapegoat for the White House or by choice, my friend surmised that Austin woke up this morning, realized he was a general in the United States Army, and did the right thing. (Related article: Secretary of Defense rescinds plea deal with 9/11 terrorists after backlash from victims' families)
The move at least temporarily thwarted a decision by the Biden-Harris administration to accept the plea deal. Khalid Sheikh Mohammedthe confessed mastermind of the 9/11 attacks on the United States, and two high-ranking accomplices. The three should have received life sentences instead of the execution they deserve.
Such an act would be morally corrupt, would be emblematic of a sick civilization that no longer has confidence or a sense of justice, and would be a betrayal of trust with the American people. Murdered on 9/11 And the tens of thousands who were killed or injured, physically and psychologically, in the war that terrorists started that day.
Incredibly, the White House denied responsibility for the plea deal. The spokesman said“The President and the White House had no involvement in this process.” This seems to me to be a complete lie, or a subterfuge. At the very least, the White House and National Security Council staff ran a process designed to produce that result. More likely, they took the lead and made it appear that others were in charge.
What's worse, did the White House know about the special contract with KSM or did they know about it?
CNN Repeat common sense The bill, which has paralyzed court proceedings for nearly 23 years since the 9/11 attacks, says that “prosecutors in this case have been discussing a possible plea bargain for more than two years, which would have avoided a lengthy trial complicated by questions about the admissibility of evidence obtained during torture.”
How ridiculous that legal experts in the Pentagon and elsewhere in Washington should be struggling with such a simple issue.
All that is required is for a court to find the terrorists as major unlawful combatants and sentence them to death. The three terrorists and their compatriots held at the U.S. military base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, have committed major terrorist attacks, specifically targeting civilians, and launched an unprovoked war of aggression against the United States. These are despicable violations of the laws of war. Considering these acts and the fact that they were not in military uniform, they are clearly unlawful combatants and deserve to pay the ultimate price, similar to the death penalty meted out to German and Japanese officers after World War II.
Austin said in his order: Military Commissions Act of 2009The legislation would amend the Military Commissions Act of 2006 to address the then-liberal Supreme Court's erroneous 5-4 decision in 2008 to extend the civil rights of U.S. citizens to terrorist enemy combatants. These rulings, along with a lack of leadership and resolve, are part of the reason the architects of 9/11 are holed up in sunny Cuba for more than two decades. It will also ensure that the Biden-Harris administration ends without a final solution.
Former President Donald Trump should take a different path and use a better precedent if he is re-elected. (Related article: Christian Whitton: Trump-Vance pairing is the height of bold politics)
Trump will once again be Commander in Chief of the military, responsible for protecting and defending the United States. He does not need legal expert permission to do so, and his constitutional authority cannot be limited by mere laws that expand powers not granted by the Constitution, or by erroneous court decisions.
President Franklin Roosevelt made the right decision when he was faced with the question of how to deal with German saboteurs captured by the United States in 1942 during World War II. Once out of uniform, they were spies and illegal combatants, and Roosevelt's Attorney General Francis Biddle feared they should be tried as criminals with only a few years in prison. Roosevelt's Written Response“I want you to understand one thing clearly, Francis. I am not turning them over to any United States Marshal with a writ of habeas corpus. Got it?”
The Supreme Court sided with Roosevelt. The saboteurs landed on June 12, 1942. They were captured, tried, convicted, and then executed on August 8, 1942, less than two months later.
To repair a broken court process, one might have an instinct to turn to something like this: Nuremberg Trials It tried Nazi war criminals, ultimately handing down many death sentences after lengthy deliberations and a great deal of pretense. Philippine War Crimes Commission A commission established by General Douglas MacArthur, Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers and de facto dictator of Japan after the war. Part of the International Military Tribunal for the Far East, the commission executed some of the worst war criminals, those responsible for atrocities committed in the Philippines, then a US colony. Importantly, the commission was accountable to MacArthur and could amend its sentences if necessary, and the military members of the commission were accountable to MacArthur. There was no lofty attitude about impartiality, and the accused received due process, but their fates were decided and justice was served.
To close this chapter in history, a re-elected Trump should, within the first 100 days of his second term, order his Secretary of Defense to convene and conclude a tribunal for these three top terrorists and others still held at Guantanamo Bay. This long-delayed process should end with the short rope falling from the long one and the hangman finally delivering justice to the 9/11 terrorists.
Christian Whiton served as a senior adviser to the Trump and George W. Bush administrations. This article originally appeared on Substack's Capitalist Notes.
The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official position of the Daily Caller News Foundation.
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