• Attorney General Eric Holder has made a bad – and potentially catastrophic – decision regarding the relocation to New York City of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four other terrorists from Guantanamo Bay for trial in civilian court just blocks from Ground Zero.
• First, bringing “rock stars” of the terrorist world to a city they have repeatedly attacked invites more attacks on that community – and perhaps others around the country.
• Second, as FBI Director Robert Mueller has warned, putting such terrorists in the U.S. prison population will only intensify the serious problem we already have with recruitment to jihad in our penitentiaries.
• Third, giving the self-professed “mastermind” of the 9/11 attacks and his co-conspirators the same constitutional rights in court that U.S. citizens enjoy assures that it will be America that is put on trial, not the terrorists.
• Fourth, if terrorists deemed to be among the most dangerous currently in U.S. detention can be brought to this country for trial, it will surely follow that the rest of those currently held at Guantanamo Bay will also be transferred to prisons and communities in this country.
- For example, the terrorists and their attorneys will demand access to classified information about their capture, interrogation and detention that will be harmful to our country’s relationships with other nations and damaging to its security.
• The recklessness of this decision is underscored by two facts:
- Mr. Holder failed to consult either Mayor Michael Bloomberg or New York Police Commissioner Ray Kelly about the security implications of his actions.
- Senator Chuck Schumer of New York says he will try to get an additional $75 million in federal funding to try to help protect the people of his state. That is money that need not be spent for this purpose – at the expense of other priorities – if the trial is not held in this country.
• For these reasons, we believe Eric Holder’s decision must be blocked. As a practical matter, the best way to do this is for Congress to exercise its constitutional authority to remove trials for Guantanamo Bay terrorists from the jurisdiction of civilian courts.
- Legislation to this effect is being drawn up by Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Congresswoman Michelle Bachmann of Minnesota.
- Every Member of Congress should be encouraged to co-sponsor and support this legislation.
ACTION ITEMS
1. Organize a small group (2 or 3) to visit the local office of your U.S. Representative and Senator. This is a wonderful opportunity to establish or continue a relationship with those who represent you. Respectfully encourage them to keep Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and his associates out of our country and out of our civilian courts.
If you can’t visit the offices of your elected officials, please call, e-mail, or fax them to express your views on this issue.
Click here to obtain such contact information on your Members of Congress.
2. Forward this information to everyone you know and ask him/her to do the same! Refer them to the Feature Image entitled, “Stop Civilian Trials for Terrorists!” on our website, www.actforamerica.org.
3. Widely distribute the letter signed by hundreds of family members of those who lost their lives on 9/11. This letter may be found at www.KeepAmericaSafe.com.
