KSM rules NYC

The terrorists won by forcing cowardly politicians, both Republicans and Democrats, to undermine Attorney General Eric Holder’s plans to bring KSM to trial in lower Manhattan, within blocks of the scene of the crime, ground zero.

By so loudly opposing the New York City venue, of course, Republicans are outright hypocrites. For eight years, under George W. Bush and Dick Cheney, the policy of the United States was to bring terrorist suspects to trial in federal civilian court, most of them in New York. According to Human Rights Watch, they brought 119 such cases following Sept. 11, with a 91 percent conviction rate. And that included two high-profile security trials: shoe bomber Richard Reid in Boston and al Qaeda operative Zacarias Moussaoui in Alexandria, Va.

At the time, Rudy Giuliani and other so-called “hard-liners” praised the civilian trial of Moussaoui as a triumph of the American system of justice. Which it was. And what was the right policy for President Bush is now the right policy for President Barack Obama.

Meanwhile, the opposition arguments put forth by New York Democrats were laughable. The trial will cause traffic jams? New York City’s a perpetual traffic jam. It’ll force nearby businesses to close? Didn’t happen in Boston or Alexandria. It’ll require tough security? I thought the NYPD was the best in the world. It’ll cost $200 million? The federal government would pick up the tab.

But, of course, those aren’t the real reasons Democrats caved in. They’re simply chicken. They’re so afraid of being called soft on terrorism, they’ll run for the hills rather than stand and fight for what’s right. Shame on them.

For, in the end, what’s really at stake in this decision is not the location of one trial, it’s the American justice system itself. We either trust it or we don’t. We either believe in it, or not. If we do, we should not be so willing to throw it out the window whenever a terrorist suspect comes up for trial.

The controversy over where to hold the trial of Khalid Sheik Mohammed has turned into one of those good news/bad news stories. The good news is: The war on terror is over. The bad news is: The terrorists won.

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