Great idea! Why didn’t anybody think of it before? “White House reconsiders holding terror trials in civilian court,” by Julian E. Barnes and Christi Parsons for the Los Angeles Times, March 5 (thanks to Mackie):
The White House is considering an end to its effort to prosecute the suspected Sept. 11 plotters in a civilian court and may send them instead before military tribunals, in an apparent retreat from President Obama’s pledge to overhaul the Bush administration’s detention policies.
Last year, the Obama administration announced it would try Khalid Shaikh Mohammed and others in federal court in New York. That step came after Obama overhauled interrogation policies and ordered the shutdown of the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
But safety concerns about the trial have grown, and support for holding the trial in New York has eroded.
“It is politically untenable,” said one official, speaking on condition of anonymity because a decision had not been made. “No place wants to hold a trial.”…
Uh, no kidding. And also, a civilian trial would simply serve as a propaganda platform for the jihadis.