So the Libyan government is protesting our capture of one of their citizens, Ahmed Abu Khatallah for his role in the attack on our mission in Benghazi on September 11, 2012. I have chosen the Reuters link to this story because of the caption they put on the picture of the attack.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/06/18/us-libya-security-idUSKBN0ET2JK20140618?feedType=RSS
""A protester reacts as the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi is seen in flames during a protest by an armed group said to have been protesting a film being produced in the United States September 11, 2012."
Boy, are they behind the times.
However, I want to address the protest by the Libyan government as to the capture of Khatallah, a Libyan, by our Special Forces.
If I may play Devil's Advocate, from the strict point of view of international law, I suppose they are correct. Yet, this man was apparently hiding in plain sight in the Benghazi area after the attack even after his name surfaced as a suspect. In fact, he was giving interviews to the international press in Benghazi. This of course raises the issue not only as to why the Libyans didn't arrest him, but why it took so long for the Americans to grab him. The bottom line is, however, that the Libyans were not going to do anything about him. So we did-better late than never.
So now Khatallah is on a US Navy ship steaming toward the US as he is being interrogated with no Miranda warning. There is now a provision in place that he may be interrogated about any imminent threat that he may have knowledge of before he is Mirandized. He will not be taken to Guantanemo, rather he will be sent to Washington DC to stand trial in a federal court with all legal protections. That means that as soon as he appears in court, there will be defense lawyer jumping up and down about his client's Miranda rights, illegal arrest, speedy trial, and every other deviation from normal procedure if he were a drug trafficker, for example.
And you say that the judge will deny all these motions?
What if the judge is some liberal appointed by Obama? Or Clinton? Or Carter? Are you really certain that some judge won't rule that Khattallah's rights have been violated and he should be released and returned to Libya?
This is why terrorists do not fit into our judicial system. The template is the case of the German saboteurs who landed on a US shore during World War II, were captured, and tried by a military tribunal. This man should be treated the same as Khalid Sheikh Mohammed although I cannot understand why his trial is dragging out so long. He should have been hanged years ago.
Keep your fingers crossed that Obama and Holder don't screw this up.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
I daresay if an American citizen had been kidnapped by French special forces (the new leaders of the free world, I think you called them?) the State Department would vigorously protest.
One could take note that there isn't a functional extradition treaty between the U.S. and Libya, or that the Libyan government's commitment to prosecute the man themselves isn't worth much when their writ doesn't run much outside their own government buildings.
I doubt that the special forces would have been authorized to carry out the mission if there was not intent to pursue the matter to the end. I don't believe foreign nationals have a constitutional right not to be taken into custody in a foreign territory, unless there is a treaty (supreme law of the land) which requires handing them back.
Of course, maybe the evidence will show he is innocent, and we got the wrong guy?
There are laws against killing American citizens on US soil, which is where the murders took place.
Obozo already granted the suspect the right to be tried in the American judicial system giving him all the rights of a citizen.. He should hAve been sent to Guantanamo to rot until the conflict is over or tried by a military court.
Obama is partial to Muslims at every opportunity.
Post a Comment