Rep. Pence: 9/11 Trials "The Most Naïve And Dangerous" Decision Ever
According to Rep. Mike Pence, "This administration's decision to try Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, and his cohorts, in our civilian criminal courts is the most naïve and dangerous decision I have ever witnessed the United States government make."
Yesterday, two former officials in the Bush justice department became the latest conservatives to voice support for the Obama administration's decision to prosecute five alleged 9/11 conspirators in criminal court.
Writing in the Washington Post, former Deputy Attorney General Jim Comey and former Assistant Attorney General Jack Goldsmith argued: "[T]here is no question about the legitimacy of U.S. federal courts to incapacitate terrorists. Many of Holder's critics appear to have forgotten that the Bush administration used civilian courts to put away dozens of terrorists."
Those critics, of course, include the entire House Republican Caucus, whose members didn't object when the tough-on-terror Bush-Cheney regime convicted 9/11 conspirator Zacarias Mousaoui and several other notable terrorists in U.S. courtrooms. Indeed, Republican lawmakers are falsely insisting that the administration's decision is unprecedented and using outrageous rhetoric to stoke fear about the potential for disaster.
Today, Republican Conference Chairman Mike Pence (R-IN) added to the already impressive list of ridiculous statements made by conservative lawmakers. In a press release, Pence suggested that putting the 9/11 terrorists on trial is "the most naïve and dangerous decision" the U.S. government has "ever" made:
"Trying terrorists like ordinary criminals puts international public relations ahead of public safety and makes a mockery of American justice. This administration's decision to try Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, and his cohorts, in our civilian criminal courts is the most naïve and dangerous decision I have ever witnessed the United States government make. We should not be granting terrorists their wish to be tried at the scene of the worst enemy attack in American history."
The release did not explain how punishing terrorists who helped kill thousands of Americans is so dangerous nor did it clarify why it was fine when the last administration did the very same thing.
Earlier this week, the Constitution Project, American Conservative Union chairman David Keene, and Americans for Tax Reform president Grover Norquist -- hardly a group of lily-livered lefties -- issued a statement in support of the administration's efforts. "The scaremongering on these issues needs to stop," they wrote. Unfortunately, that doesn't seem likely to happen any time soon.
