Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Why We Should Put Jihad on Trial

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/18/opinion/18simon.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=put%20jihad%20on%20trial&st=cse


---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: barry levine 
Date: Wed, Nov 18, 2009 at 9:58 AM
Subject: re: Why We Should Put Jihad on Trial
To: letters@nytimes.com


To the Editor:
    Predictably, John Yoo argues against  trying Khalid Sheik Mohammed in a duly-constituted court of law.  What is the "intelligence bonanza" that he fears will be opened to our enemies? Plainly, it's nothing time-sensitive. These crimes and the evidence of them are eight years old. As usual with the "State's Secrets" argument, it is the government's embarrassment that is being protected. While torture, abuse and extraordinary rendition are no longer our policies, some of these crimes of the Bush administration may indeed be relevant to this case. Let mr. Mohammed have his day in court, and let the U.S. repudiate our past crimes.  No legitimate democracy can function by just locking up inconvenient people and inconvenient facts.
Barry Levine

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