Bottom Left Politics

Pardon me if I don’t break out the party hats over the decision of the Obama Administration (as if there was any other acceptable option) to try Khalid Sheikh Mohammed in the federal court system in New York.  This was the right decision, of course, and I’m certainly not arguing against it.  But, like just about everything else the Obama Administration has done in the Constitution department, the KSM trial is symbolic, half-assed, and only the tip of the proverbial iceberg of what needs to be done.  Like the closing of Guantanamo, it’s a great decision – it’s just too bad that the system itself isn’t fixed.  Instead, these symbolic gestures in the right direction are made, and the overall unjust, unconstitutional system remains, untouched.

While KSM and four others will be tried under the legal system prescribed in the Constitution, five others, including U.S.S. Cole mastermind Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, will be “tried” in the unconstitutional military commission system.  Is that everyone’s idea of justice?  I’m more than willing to commend the Obama Administration for doing what the Bush Administration certainly wouldn’t have done.  But it’s not enough.  Not even close.  Until we end the military commission system and try every detainee under American law in the court system, justice will continue to be mocked in America.  The KSM trial is a step in the right direction, and despite objections from rabid right-wingers who would rather get off on seeing KSM tortured on Showtime (and, unfortunately/embarrassingly, two-thirds of the American people), it will shed light on the roots of terrorism.  It will be a healthy process for us as a nation.  But it will not be enough.

The Obama Administration needs to get beyond the symbolism and tackle a deeper problem every once in a while.

The blogger, Kristofer Paul, can be reached at bottomleftpolitics@yahoo.com.