Gibbs' egregious remarks

Gibbs' egregious remarks

"Khalid Sheikh Mohammed is going to meet justice and he'll meet his maker!"  So says President Obama's spokesman Robert Gibbs.
 
From that we can deduce that the White House clearly has no doubt about the verdict and sentence KSM should receive ... but the big problem is when, where and how the trial will take place.
 
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed admits masterminding 9/11 2001 but politicians can't agree on where he should be tried.
 
A Federal court in lower Manhattan had been selected but New York doesn't want it and the Obama administration - forced to reconsider - remains committed to a civilian court trial at least for now.  Gibbs told a U.S. TV network on Sunday:
 
"We want to see this man tried and brought to justice in the place where the crime was committed, we'll work with them and come to a solution that we think will bring about justice."
 
Legal experts say Gibb's "meet his maker" comments are shocking and reduce the chances of a fair trial for the 911 defendants.
 
Defence attorney Ramzi Kassem, who is looking after a number of Gitmo and Afghan detainees, told al Jazeera:
 
"They are sending these prosecutors to prosecute these cases but at the same time with statements like Mr Gibb's the are making the prosecutors jobs much more difficult because they are arming defence lawyers with additional argument."
 
With Guantanamo closing, options for trying Khalid Sheikh Mohammed are limited.
 
He could be tried in civilian court in New York as planned - extra funding to beef up security is likely to be announced this week, or the trial could be moved to a town elsewhere in New York state such as Newburgh where the mayor has said he'll welcome the extra business it would bring - or a civilian court might be set-up on an existing base such as the US military academy at West Point.
 
Here on Capitol Hill in Washington DC, the administration is coming under intense pressure from a huge number of opposition Republicans and some Democrats who argue whether it's Khalid Sheikh Mohammed or Umar Farouk Abdelmutallab - the alleged failed Detroit Christmas Day plane bomber - they should not be tried in a civilian court but rather a military tribunal.
 
Opposition Republicans are vowing to block funding for all civilian trials of people they think should be tried as enemy combatants. The senate minority leader Mitch McConnell said:
 
"Interrogate them, detain them and try them in military commissions offshore at Guantanamo from which no one has ever escaped."
 
McConnell also says that's what most Americans would prefer ... but some lawyers like Ramzi Kassem caution otherwise:
 
If the administration decides to backpedal and to try these men in the military commissions that afford fewer protections to the defendants, then the Obama administration will have a real problem on its hands because it has said all along it intends to give the 9/11 defendants a fair trial and the military commissions don't provide that fair trial."
 
As politicians scramble to find a venue to try Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, they know the entire US justice system is also under scrutiny.
 
The Obama administration must strike a balance between reaching the verdict desired by most Americans - guilty - while at the same time making sure the accused get a fair trial.