The Obama Administration is making a big mistake trying terrorists in civilian courts: Terrorists are not Americans; they do not deserve our rights.
I am excited to announce that I have recently introduced the “Military Tribunals for Terrorists Act” which will allow our intelligence officers to extract vital information from terrorists and insure that terrorists face proper justice for their actions.
I strongly believe that enemy combatants, such as the Al Qaeda terrorists, belong in the hands of our military, rather than in the hands of civilian lawyers. Allowing the military to have jurisdiction over captured terrorists will allow us to gather time sensitive intelligence preventing future attacks, rather than providing a public stage for these terrorists to broadcast their propaganda.
Recently, news reports indicated that the Justice Department is considering a criminal trial in Washington for the Guantanamo Bay detainee suspected of masterminding the bombing of a Bali nightclub that killed 202 people. This idea would bring one of the world’s most notorious terrorism just steps away from the U.S. Capitol. It is just another in a long line of mistakes by the Obama Administration in how to handle terrorist suspects.
Family members of many of the victims of the Bali attack are greatly concerned about the ramifications of such a decision. Riduan Isamuddin, better known as Hambali, supposedly was Osama bin Laden’s point man in Indonesia. He was captured in August 2003. Experts believe that he is the main link between al Qaeda and Jemaah Islamiyah, the terror group blamed for the 2002 bombing on the island of Bali.
Trying Isamuddin in a civilian court in Washington DC will come at a high price. The terrorists aren’t American citizens who committed burglary or arson. They are enemy combatants at war with the United States and should be treated as such. Anything less than this, will cause us to lose valuable intelligence that will jeopardize the safety of the American people.
