06 February 2009

Justice, Interrupted

I'm glad I'm not a family member of one of the seventeen Sailors who died on the USS Cole, because I would be going to jail soon.

Susan J. Crawford, the judge overseeing the Gitmo cases, has dropped all charges against Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, an Al-Qaida operative who is suspected of helping to plan the USS Cole bombing, without prejudice. This means that charges can be filed at a later date.

This was done to comply with President Obama's directive to halt military tribunals in terror cases. Army judge Col. James Pohl had scheduled an arraignment in the case in defiance of the directive.

In a show of either brazen stupidity or arrogant surety, President Obama plans to meet with the Cole families on Friday.

I wonder how much time you would get for kicking a President in the crotch?

UPDATE: The family of FCFN Gary G. Swenchonis Jr. refused to meet with the President. Their story is here. I tried to leave an encouraging comment there, but had problems seeing the verification word. So I will say here what I tried to say there:

I was on USS George Washington (CVN-73) the day the Cole got hit. They were in our battle group. The Cole Sailors fought valiently to save their ship, their efforts were heroic, their losses were staggering. I will never forget them. I never knew any of their names, I know one now.

God bless you, and your family. There will be Justice for the seventeen Cole Sailors who paid the price that day, either in this world or in the next. I pray that it will be in this one.

UPDATE 2: The names and faces are here, at the USS Cole memorial site.

3 comments:

Anniee451 said...

What the hell is with the left's aversion to military tribunals? Do they also think the Nuremberg Trials should not have been conducted? Wtf? Do they think "tribunal" means "lynch mob"? Who gave them this fecking idea?

How much time do you get for kicking a moron usurper in the crotch? I don't know, but I kind of hope we find out. Maybe you get the same thing you get for throwing shoes at a president - media praise.

Steve said...

Larry, it wouldn't matter to me how much time you'd get. If it were me in their shoes, the satisfaction of seeing The one writhing in pain on the ground would make any jail sentence worth it.

Larry said...

Annie, you know the drill. The tribunals a) were established under the Bush administration and b) are military, so are doubleplus ungood.

I don't know how much time it would cost, but I too think it would be well worth it.

Oops, gotta go, someone knocking at the door... ;)