Today I was given two hours of "advance notice" regarding DOJ's decision to not prosecute the remaining alleged 9/11 conspirators in an open court of law. According to DOJ's statement, the remaining individuals will be sent to military tribunals.
I recognize that there are many, many other things for Americans to be upset with today, but I hope everyone can take a second to contemplate this decision and recognize what it says about President Obama, the Department of Justice, and the United States.
As for the Department of Justice, it shows their inability to prosecute individuals who are responsible for the death of 3,000 people on the morning of 9/11. Apparently our Constitution and judicial system -- two of the very cornerstones that make America so great and used to set such a shining example to the rest of the world -- are not adequately set up to respond to or deal with the aftermath of terrorism. To me, this is a startling and dismal acknowledgment that perhaps Osama Bin Laden did, in fact, win on the morning of 9/11. And chillingly, I wonder whether it wasn't just the steel towers that were brought down and incinerated on 9/11, but the yellowed pages of our U.S. Constitution, as well.
And what does it say about the solemn capabilities of our Department of Justice if it is left to "subcontract out" its duties and responsibilities to the Department of Defense? We should all think about that scary notion for a bit. But, perhaps more disturbingly recognize that it is not occurring under the tutelage of Bush and Cheney, rather it is coming at the hands of Obama.
At least when President Bush was in office, he was candid about his feelings regarding the alleged 9/11 conspirators in our custody. He didn't care about them. He allowed them to be tortured. He was fine letting them rot in the heat of Guantanamo for all of eternity. They were less than human to him and he certainly was never going to afford them the benefits of our U.S. Constitution or the Geneva Conventions. That was President Bush. Whether you agreed or disagreed with him, you, at least, knew where he stood. And you could, like it or not, rely on his word.
For the past two years, it's been President Obama in the Oval Office. Quite early on in his presidency, Obama invited the 9/11 families to the White House to discuss 9/11-related issues. During this meeting in Feb '09 the topic of closing Guantanamo and the use of Article 3 courts to prosecute the remaining alleged 9/11 conspirators was discussed. Many of us were incredibly relieved to learn that as a matter of course President Obama was going to shut down Guantanamo and support the open prosecution of the alleged 9/11 conspirators. He gave us -- the various widows and children at the meeting -- his golden word. He shook our hands. He smiled broadly. He posed for pictures. (In fact, several weeks later many of the widows even received hand signed courtesy copies of these photos from Obama -- a nice touch. I did not receive such a photo.)
It's been almost ten years now since my husband was killed. My daughter has gone from a 2-year-old to a 12-year-old. Our country has started two -- and now maybe three -- pointless, misguided, costly wars. And if it wasn't already difficult enough to accept that Osama Bin Laden will probably never be caught or held accountable, now I have to swallow the fact that I will never see constitutional justice for the handful of individuals we actually hold in custody. In short, justice in a court of law for the murder of my husband and 3,000 others will never come.
I suppose in life timing is everything. To me, as a lawyer and a 9/11 widow, DOJ's announcement today acknowledges the sad defeat of our U.S. Constitution when it comes to 9/11. How truly tragic in my eyes. And you would think that a man who was once a constitutional law professor might feel the same way. Yet, not so much for President Barack Obama who has chosen this great day to announce his billion-dollar campaign for re-election. His slogan asking us to "join in" by writing him a check.
First, I've never been much of an "in"-sider. Second, I truly wonder how you can trust a leader who carries no compunction to keep his promises or his word -- whether those words and promises were made in support of gay rights, to not start or perpetuate illegal/useless/costly military campaigns (or wars), in support of environmental causes even to the detriment of big business, to put an immediate end to torture and unlawful detainment, to rein in the bloat and greed of Wall Street, to oppose gun control, or to correct the broad overreach of a previous administration.
But perhaps most pointedly, if you can't trust what a man says to a group of widows and children, then what words and promises of his can you trust?
So President Obama, am I IN? Will you be receiving my check?
Hell no.
Because I'm tired of gambling on your hope, believing in your promises, and being thrown under your bus.
In the hope that you are reading these comments,
I would just like you to know that you are absolutely correct regarding
the blatant disregard of the Constitution and the rule of law by our "leaders"
here in the US. I tried to post a few comments about your article, but they
were not allowed by the moderators. Perhaps because - like your own
comments - they were very critical of Obama. I can't help but feel that your
negative response to Obama's recent actions are directly linked to
the fact that your article was moved off the front page of HuffPo. This
article SHOULD be read because it is nothing less than the unvarnished
truth.
All The Best,
Quinny
allowed to have a public trial because "The Govt." cannot
take the chance that the truth behind the events of 9/11
might be revealed in an open court. KSM will be tried, and
no doubt convicted, in secret. And of course your comment
regarding JFK is spot on as well. Once the MIC realized they
could assassinate a President in broad daylight - and get AWAY
with it - they knew they could get away with ANYTHING.
And they have...
"The gun shots that hit Kennedy not only killed him,
but they also pieced the heart of the American dream
in the twentieth century...and maybe forever."
"I have NEVER forgotten the pain and anger I
felt when I heard that JFK was dead and I NEVER will..NEVER!!
Hunter S. Thompson
Selah
I agree with you that the constitution has become nothing more than, in George Bush's words, "That damn piece of paper", and I believe you are correct that Osama bin Laden won on Sept. 11, 2001. But I don't think you can blame Obama for it. It has become clear to me that it really doen't matter who is president. It is becoming increasingly difficult to tell one from the other. It seems to me that someone else is calling the shots. Exactly who it is is unclear to me but the homogeneity of past presidents suggests that the office isn't all it is meant to be. My fellow Americans we have been had.
May 2009: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/21/us/politics/21detain.html
December 10th, 2010: http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/12/09/1966040/holder-protests-legislation-to.html
December 22nd, 2010: http://jurist.org/paperchase/2010/12/congress-approves-defense-spending-bill-preventing-us-trial-of-guantanamo-detainees.php
I'm a little sick of reading angry progressives moan about the president when Congress is the branch constitutionally appointed to control the purse strings and write the laws. This post is exactly the sort of "bus throwing" myopic screed I'm talking about.
Wrong tree, doggies! Go bark at the Capitol Dome!
Sadly, we're not overstating the picture of current conservative orthodoxy.
We need to truly understand what the point of our legal system is, it is to ensure that NO innocent person is wrongly convicted, the Framers were willing to let a few guilty people go free to ensure that, they were not willing to allow a free and innocent person to suffer for no reason. Many times we have lost this goal and lofty ideal in place for political, institutional and professional development. If these people did in fact conspire and execute 9/11 attacks then our system of justice if properly followed will prove that beyond a reasonable doubt but if any of these people didn't commit these acts then we cannot continue to punish them. A true character of a person and our nation is how our principles survive in the time of difficultly and sadly, we let our Constitution down.
I support the use of military tribunals. These terrorists do not deserve the rights and protections of the U.S. constitution.
the "rights and protections" of the terrorists...it's about finding
out the truth....
Selah
THAT, IMHO, is the inherent flaw with our detainee program.