Webb not happy with Holder decision

Sen. Jim Webb (D-Va.) is not pleased with the Obama administration's decision to try the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks in civilian courts.

Though acknowleding the president has the constitutional authority to use federal courts to try terrorists, Webb said he'd prefer military commissions. 

"Those who have committed acts of international terrorism are enemy combatants, just as certainly as the Japanese pilots who killed thousands of Americans at Pearl Harbor," he said in a statement. "It will be disruptive, costly, and potentially counterproductive to try them as criminals in our civilian courts."

Webb said the decision to give the Khalid Shaikh Mohammed the same due process as American citizens sets a dangerous precedent that could be applied to all the prisoners in Guantanamo.

"We must be especially careful with any decisions to bring onto American soil any of those prisoners who remain a threat to our country but whose cases have been adjudged as inappropriate for trial at all," Webb said. "They do not belong in our country, they do not belong in our courts, and they do not belong in our prisons."

Read his full statement after the jump.

Washington, DC—The following is a statement from Senator Jim Webb in response to today’s announcement by the Obama administration:

“I have never disputed the constitutional authority of the President to convene Article III courts in cases of international terrorism. However, I remain very concerned about the wisdom of doing so.  Those who have committed acts of international terrorism are enemy combatants, just as certainly as the Japanese pilots who killed thousands of Americans at Pearl Harbor. It will be disruptive, costly, and potentially counterproductive to try them as criminals in our civilian courts. 

“The precedent set by this decision deserves careful scrutiny as we consider proper venues for trying those now held at Guantanamo who were apprehended outside of this country for acts that occurred outside of the country.  And we must be especially careful with any decisions to bring onto American soil any of those prisoners who remain a threat to our country but whose cases have been adjudged as inappropriate for trial at all.  They do not belong in our country, they do not belong in our courts, and they do not belong in our prisons.

“I have consistently argued that military commissions, with the additional procedural rules added by Congress and enacted by President Obama, are the most appropriate venue for trying individuals adjudged to be enemy combatants.”