Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Meanwhile over at truth Social, the former president is busy confessing to crimes.

Proof that we need a blogger ethics panel.

Some judge needs to shut this circus down soon.

I see no possible difficulties whatsoever with this fool-proof plan.

“Can i answer the question? No you can not!”

DeSantis transforms Florida into 1930s Germany with gators and theme parks.

It’s all just conspiracy shit beamed down from the mothership.

Wow, you are pre-disappointed. How surprising.

Bad news for Ron DeSantis is great news for America.

They were going to turn on one another at some point. It was inevitable.

Take your GOP plan out of the witness protection program.

Nothing worth doing is easy.

Cole is on a roll !

Historically it was a little unusual for the president to be an incoherent babbling moron.

fuckem (in honor of the late great efgoldman)

Republicans choose power over democracy, every day.

“I never thought they’d lock HIM up,” sobbed a distraught member of the Lock Her Up Party.

Jesus, Mary, & Joseph how is that election even close?

A democracy can’t function when people can’t distinguish facts from lies.

You don’t get to peddle hatred on saturday and offer condolences on sunday.

Bark louder, little dog.

A thin legal pretext to veneer over their personal religious and political desires

“Cheese and Kraken paired together for the appetizer trial.”

Something needs to be done about our bogus SCOTUS.

You are here: Home / Politics / Torture / The System Worked

The System Worked

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Whaddya know? We tried a terrorist in court, and he was found guilty on the charges that could be proven, the others were dismissed, and now he is facing 20 to life in jail:

The first former Guantánamo detainee to be tried in a civilian court was acquitted on Wednesday of all but one of more than 280 charges of conspiracy and murder in the 1998 terrorist bombings of the United States Embassies in Nairobi, Kenya, and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

The case has been seen as a test of President Obama’s goal of trying detainees in federal court whenever feasible, and the result may again fuel debate over whether civilian courts are appropriate for trying terrorists.

The defendant, Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani, 36, was convicted of one count of conspiracy to destroy government buildings and property. He was acquitted of four counts of conspiracy, including conspiring to kill Americans and to use weapons of mass destruction.

I see a wingnut voltron is being formed to claim “justice” was not served, but from where I sit, it worked perfectly. Note to CIA and Republicans- stop torturing people and maybe we can send them to jail for longer!

Reader Interactions

29Comments

  1. 1.

    El Cid

    Only a weak society would allow mere evidence or the lack of it to protect a terrorist from every charge that is asserted against him. If we continue along this path, it can only end in abject surrender to the Caliphate.

  2. 2.

    BGinCHI

    Serious question: when was the last time you heard a Republican go on record, with facts, making a case that something the government did “worked”?

  3. 3.

    Unabogie

    Let’s face it. Bush tried people in US courts, and there was no freakout. Basically none of what these people scream about do they actually care about. It’s all just theater to get their 2 minute hate on.

  6. 6.

    Carnacki

    I will never understand how the wingnuts excused Bush regarding the failure to bring to justice Osama bin Laden and that six months after the Sept. 11th attacks, he didn’t care about OBL. I want those responsible to stand trial for their crimes. I am often disappointed, but I still believe in Justice.

  9. 9.

    BGinCHI

    Here’s the AP capsule report on this (via my Yahoo email front page):

    Gitmo detainee acquitted of all but 1 charge in NY (AP)

    AP – The first Guantanamo detainee to face a civilian trial was acquitted Wednesday of all but one of the hundreds of charges he helped unleash death and destruction on two U.S. embassies in 1998 — a mixed result for what’s been viewed as a terror test case.

  11. 11.

    mantis

    So 20 to life plus the six years he’s already been in custody, most of that in some CIA hole in Egypt or something? Terrorists set loose in the streets, just as the right said would happen!

  13. 13.

    ruemara

    Was there any waterboarding? Then it’s just not “justice”. And the reporting makes it sound like a fail.

  14. 14.

    MikeBoyScout

    I’m old enough to remember when “Sometimes you have to go above the law.” was thought to be an idiotic and ridiculous argument by a large majority of Murkins.

    Heck, even a majority of Murkins in Virginia thought it was asinine.

    Grope me!

  15. 15.

    jl

    I had the misfortune of driving to a meeting when the news broke, and heard the political class pundits in a series of short interviews on the damn car radio.

    I noticed that the whole thing was framed as whether it was a ‘win’ or a ‘loss’ for the Obama administration.

    And about half the pundits said it was a ‘loss’ or ‘setback’.

    And I wondered to myself, how it was a loss, the guy is now liable to do 20 years to life?

    And I also wondered whether there is a reality out there that might be interesting to know about. Like, was some of the government’s case weak? Was the guy overcharged? What were the counts on which he was found innocent? Were they major or minor counts?

    But none of that was important to the news station or the pundits. What was important to spout stupid political horse race babble that meant nothing.

    I have gotten angry when I read people saying the country has gotten so stupid that it is lost. But… I dunno…

  16. 16.

    Fuzz

    The lower violence in Iraq (and according to The Atlantic the lower civilian deaths in drone attacks over in Pakistan) is also because we now have a lot of good intel, which was gained through interrogating people without having them naked and smeared with period blood, or far worse.

  17. 17.

    sfinny

    I was part of the jury selection for this case. Although relieved that I not chosen because of the potential time commitment (originally they said two to four months), I was a little disappointed. Thought it would be interesting to see the actual evidence.

  18. 18.

    General Stuck

    Fucking psycopath Liz Cheney is the primary screamer on this one, probly wants the guys head on a platter for a christmas present to daddy death before the grim reaper comes calling.

  19. 19.

    Triassic Sands

    The only just sentence (apart from being chopped up in little pieces with a dull paring knife) for a terrorist (who attacks the US or an American) is 6000+ years — the entire existence of the planet Earth. Hell, life in the electric chair wouldn’t be adequate for such an evil-doer.

    @Carnacki:

    I want those responsible to stand trial for their crimes.

    Where on Earth could we try bin Laden? Answer, nowhere. We’ll have to return to the moon for a venue safe enough for this country.

  20. 20.

    Triassic Sands

    If Liz Cheney is leading the charge on this one, just wait till she hears that Charlie Crist is thinking about pardoning Jim Morrison.

    Surely, exposing oneself is worse than a little bit o’ terrorism.

  21. 21.

    Moonbatting Average

    Plus, the socialist NPR piece on this made sure to note that “some say” that this verdict is a blow to Obama’s plans to bring detainees into the civilian court system.

    Why? Because he didn’t get the Triple Gas Chamber?

    Isn’t it great that a New York court could look at the evidence dispassionately in a terrorist case and convict only on the charge that the evidence supported?

  22. 22.

    Chris

    “Note to CIA and Republicans- stop torturing people and maybe we can send them to jail for longer!”

    You can offer the powers-that-be such a trade, but I don’t know how likely they are to accept those terms. Being an American means never having to take “No” for an answer (“Can we have lower taxes?” “Can we torture people?” “Can we bomb foreigners on dubious legal grounds, and carelessly?”).

    And why should the GOP care if some jury of hippies lets a accused terrorist out sooner? (This envisions the rejection of the above deal: “No, we’re gonna keep torturing people, and take our chances. Heh, heh.”) If the accused terrorist does nothing, nobody’s ever going to hear about it; if the accused terrorist does anything, the GOP gets to blame the hippies.

    So, ask yourself: would the GOP be willing to let something dastardly happen if it meant they could blame hippies?

    Go ask George W. “All right, you’ve covered your ass” Bush. Or Dick “Me oversee counterterrorism? That’s unpossible!” Cheney. Or John “Would you shut the fuck up about terrorism? It’s September 10, 2001, and nothing’s gonna fucking happen” Ashcroft. (note: last two quotes are paraphrased from actual quotes/actions, but not substantively different.)

  23. 23.

    Joseph Nobles

    Only the deranged could look at a 20-life sentence for Al Qaeda’s errand boy in the African embassy bombings and think he was getting off light. A jury looked at the evidence, heard the arguments, and rendered a verdict.

    There is no American institution or value these people will not trash in order to destroy Barack Obama.

  24. 24.

    Redshift

    NPR’s coverage obviously was not as bad as some other outlets, but I was still annoyed by their buying into the groupthink that of course he must be guilty, so any acquittal was a “failure.”

    I was rather disturbed by the coverage of the Ghailani terrorism verdict on NPR news. The viewpoint of the story seemed to presume that Ghailani was guilty, and the fact that he was only convicted on one count was therefore some sort of failure of our court system.

    In fact, it seems to me that there are only two reasonable ways to interpret this event based on the facts presented: either accept the jury verdict as we do in other cases, or highlight the fact that the previous administration’s decision to have detainees tortured has made it difficult bring them to justice in a manner consistent with our country’s principles.

    Perhaps the mention of the exclusion of evidence was meant to convey this point, but if so, it was insufficient, and the continued use of the term “enhanced interrogation” is anything but neutral. Similarly, describing the verdict as “a setback for the administration’s plans to close Guantanamo” hardly goes far enough in describing the awful choice we have been left with: either risk trying suspects we believe to be dangerous while lacking untainted evidence, or compound the stain on our moral standing by using indefinite detention of detainees without due process to determine their guilt or innocence.

  25. 25.

    I have issues with Baltimore

    “A wingnut voltron?” Holy shit, that’s awesome. Can I get exclusive Baltimore rights to use that and similar expressions from now on?

  28. 28.

    FormerSwingVoter

    I love how the headlines consistently, across-the-board, in every major news source, read “Acquittal on All but One Charge” instead of “Gets 20-to-life”.

    Liberal media bias!

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