Webb, Bipartisan Senators Urge Attorney General to Try Detainees in Military Commissions

Virginia Senator Expresses Concerns about Terrorist Trials in DC, Northern Virginia

WASHINGTON, DC– Senator Jim Webb (D-VA) today joined five other Senators calling for U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to reverse his decision to try Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and other alleged conspirators in the September 11, 2001 attacks in civilian court rather than military commissions.  

The six lawmakers, including Senators Joe Lieberman (ID-CT), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Blanche Lincoln (D-AR), Susan Collins (R-ME) and John McCain (R-AZ), expressed particular concern “about using the U.S. criminal justice system for trying enemy combatants,” indicating that “due to time constraints and location, we strongly urge you to reconsider your decision to try Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and the other alleged conspirators in the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.”

In addition, Senator Webb expressed strong concerns about the Obama administration’s reported plans to try terrorist suspect Riduan Isamuddin, also known as Hambali, who is connected with the 2002 Bali nightclub bombing, in the greater Washington, DC area. “Hambali is Indonesian,” said Webb.  “He was involved in a terrorist attack inside Indonesia that killed 202 people, including 88 Australians, 38 Indonesians, 24 citizens of the United Kingdom, and 7 Americans.  He is the former leader of an Indonesian terrorist organization.  He was captured in Thailand, and then brought to Guantanamo.  The Indonesian government, which has already executed three others involved in this bombing, wants to try him.  I do not understand the relevance of trying him as a common criminal in the civilian courts of the United States.”

Webb pointed out that bringing enemy combatants for detention or trial in Washington, DC or Northern Virginia would unnecessarily burden these communities, from both a financial and security perspective, and that similar concerns were raised to him in a letter from Alexandria Mayor William Euille and the Alexandria City Council.

Senator Webb also said today, “Additionally, I remain extremely concerned that the Administration seems determined to move dozens of law-of-war detainees who face indefinite detention without a trial, to the United States.  The Administration has failed to articulate a comprehensive legal and practical disposition for these detainees. Whatever the final disposition of this matter, it should not involve moving these detainees to the United States.”

Webb has said many times that those charged with crimes of war and those who have been determined to be dangerous law-of-war detainees do not belong in our country, in our courts, or in our prisons.


The full text of the letter follows.

January 26, 2010

The Honorable Eric H. Holder, Jr.
Attorney General of the United States
U.S. Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, D.C. 20530-0001


Dear Mr. Attorney General:

In light of recent events, we write to express our continuing concerns regarding the policies of this Administration with respect to those prisoners now detained at Guantanamo, and also any others who in the future might be charged with acts of international terrorism.  We remain particularly concerned about using the U.S. criminal justice system for trying enemy combatants.  

Of special importance due to time constraints and location, we strongly urge you to reconsider your decision to try Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and the other alleged conspirators in the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.  The attacks of 9/11 were acts of war, and those who planned and carried out those attacks are war criminals.  Today, those who subscribe to the same violent ideology as Khalid Sheikh Mohammed continue to plan and execute attacks against innocent civilians all over the world.  It is not in our national interest to provide them further publicity or additional advantage. 

We and many others have already expressed serious concerns about whether a trial in civilian court might compromise classified evidence, including revealing sources and methods used by our intelligence community.  We are also very concerned that, by bringing Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and other terrorists responsible for 9/11 to the federal courthouse in lower Manhattan, only blocks away from where the Twin Towers once stood, you will be providing them one of the most visible platforms in the world to exalt their past acts and to rally others in support of further terrorism.  Such a trial would almost certainly become a recruitment and radicalization tool for those who wish us harm. 

The security and other risks inherent in holding the trial in New York City are reflected in Mayor Bloomberg’s recent letter to the administration advising that New York City will be required to spend more than $200 million per year in security measures for the trial.  As Mayor Bloomberg and Police Commissioner Kelly know too well, the threat of terrorist acts in New York City is a daily challenge.  Holding Khalid Sheikh Mohammed’s trial in that city, and trying other enemy combatants in venues such as Washington, DC and northern Virginia, would unnecessarily increase the burden of facing those challenges, including the increased risk of terrorist attacks.

As you acknowledged in your testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee in November, your decision to prosecute enemy combatants captured on foreign battlefields like Khalid Sheikh Mohammed is without precedent in our nation’s history.  The challenges of containing and defeating international terrorism do not give us the proper moment to break that precedent.  Given the risks and costs, it is far more logical, cost-effective, and strategically wise to try Khalid Sheikh Mohammed in the military commissions that Congress and the President have now established for that very purpose.


Sincerely,


Senator Joseph I. Lieberman                                      Senator Lindsey O. Graham
Senator Blanche L. Lincoln                                       Senator Susan M. Collins 
Senator Jim Webb                                                 Senator John S. McCain