Comments on: Obama To Close Gitmo, Hold Different Tribunals http://donklephant.com/2008/11/10/obama-to-close-gitmo-hold-different-tribunals/ Big Teeth. Huge Ass. Surprisingly Reasonable. Tue, 14 Feb 2012 14:03:13 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: Publius http://donklephant.com/2008/11/10/obama-to-close-gitmo-hold-different-tribunals/comment-page-1/#comment-424318 Publius Tue, 11 Nov 2008 07:31:44 +0000 http://donklephant.com/?p=10838#comment-424318 It looks as if the Obama team is seeking a way to take a bow for closing Gitmo while shifting to another, new, yet-to-be-fashioned forum the problem of how to detain guys we simply cannot let go and cannot try in a federal court (without spilling countless intelligence sources and methods). These guys were not captured by cops who gathered evidence to convist them. They were captured by the smart use of intelligence assets with the goal of shutting them down to protect the US from more attacks. There was not in 2002 any chance that we could have succeeded in doing this by sending the FBI out with warrants. Anyone who suggested that due process came before the nation'safety in 2002 would have been derided rightly as a fool. Now we have the luxury to worry about due process -- but only up to a point that will always fall short of that found in a federal court. No sane US government is going to release Khalid Sheik Mohammed for lack of admissable evidence. Tribe, et al. are going to find thatif we did not have a Gitmo, we'd need to create one. And that's exactly what they appear to be doing. It looks as if the Obama team is seeking a way to take a bow for closing Gitmo while shifting to another, new, yet-to-be-fashioned forum the problem of how to detain guys we simply cannot let go and cannot try in a federal court (without spilling countless intelligence sources and methods).

These guys were not captured by cops who gathered evidence to convist them. They were captured by the smart use of intelligence assets with the goal of shutting them down to protect the US from more attacks.

There was not in 2002 any chance that we could have succeeded in doing this by sending the FBI out with warrants. Anyone who suggested that due process came before the nation’safety in 2002 would have been derided rightly as a fool. Now we have the luxury to worry about due process — but only up to a point that will always fall short of that found in a federal court. No sane US government is going to release Khalid Sheik Mohammed for lack of admissable evidence. Tribe, et al. are going to find thatif we did not have a Gitmo, we’d need to create one.

And that’s exactly what they appear to be doing.

]]>