Obama's plan to try KSM in civilian court may be done - The Oval: Tracking the Obama presidency
Looks like Obama's plan to have foreign terrorists who carried out foreign attacks on the US in foreign lands tried in civilian courts with civilian jururs according to US laws is disappointing, to say the least.
Use the right tool for the job. Yes, you can use a shoe to hammer in one nail, but if you need to hammer in several you have to add a bit of weight and a steel plate to it, which then simply makes it ill-fitting for its original use.
Not only that, but even though he's only receive a 20 year sentence, they are indicating that he'll remain in military detention for life anyway. So not only did the experiment fail, but they aren't even going to stand by their own rules - in essence they pre-convicted him (and note that they chose a terrorist which was as easily prosecuted as they could find), went through a farce of a civilian trial, then gave him the punishment they believed he already deserved.
If you're going to take a stand on "principle" it really weakens your position if you don't maintain your own convictions.
Of course, this doesn't even get into the "what are we telling our enemies" message.
