Terrorist Trials in N.Y.C.

by wok3

Tuesday, November 17, 2009 at 07:12 AM EST

Many conservatives seem to think that the suspects we have in custody do not deserve a trial, as they are seen as Prisoners of War. POW’s do not have a right to trial, and are normally interned for the duration of the particular conflict. And that might pose a problem here, as technically the war on terror will never actually be over, and these prisoners were never soldiers of a particular country.

Not to mention the fact that we have already arrested, tortured, and even managed to kill some of those we believed to be our enemies, and the only problem here of course is that we managed to arrest innocent people, and even kill some of them while in custody. So, indefinite detention seems a rather imperfect solution to the problem.

Some conservatives seemed frightened that terrorists will be allowed to even be within the borders of the U.S., as if they had special powers that only activate while on our soil. An empty prison in Illinois is already hoping to have some of the terrorists sentenced to their facility, ensuring employment for quite a while. And since the facility has no current prisoners, even the idiotic idea that the terrorists will be finding new people to turn to radical Islam would seem to not be a very plausible idea.

The United States is a country of laws. Ideally, these laws take precedence over everything else, yes, even political parties (gasp!). So if the conservatives are showing anything by saying we should not have the trials in the U.S., to me they are saying that they do not love this country. They fear the unknown, so like a child they would rather hold people forever rather than try them for the murdering terrorists that they allegedly are. True, I believe that a fair portion (OK, all) of those to be tried are most likely guilty, but even this belief should not bar them from a trial.

Does it bother me that people I think are most likely guilty of attacking us are not at this very moment slowly being turned over a large fire while on a spit? Yes, but fear and revenge are not what the law is about at all, and if we are a country of laws, fear and thoughts of revenge should not dictate what punishments should be doled out to those we believe to be guilty.

If we love our country, just maybe we should abide by the rule of law that raises us above the mere law of the jungle. I sincerely hope that we try all those we believe to be guilty in court, secure convictions, and then just lock them up until they perish.

If we deny even suspects like these any semblance of true legal proceedings, then in a way they will have won, as we will be destroying ourselves.