Charges Dropped Against Terrorist Suspected Cole Bomer Mastermind

[chefdennis]

Here you go, even the judge said no, but barry is doing this his way!! Hell they couldn't even wait to tell the families before they let the press have it!! I thinnk I will go puke:

Military Commission Charges Dropped Against Terrorist Suspect Al-Nashiri

Political Punch: Military Commission Charges Dropped Against Terrorist Suspect Al-Nashiri
February 05, 2009 5:46 PM

As President Obama prepared to order the Department of Defense's Military Commission to withdraw charges against terrorist suspect Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri on Friday afternoon, the convening authority for the Commission, Susan Crawford, withdrew the charges on her own Thursday night.

The charges were withdrawn without prejudice, meaning they later can be reinstated in a military commission or pursued in a civilian court. Al-Nashiri will remain in custody.

The original plan was for the announcement not to be made until after President Obama meets with the families of victims of terrorist attacks on 9/11 and on the U.S.S. Cole Friday afternoon, where he will assure them that this step was not done to be lenient towards al-Nashiri.

The move is being done to stop the continued prosecution of al-Nashiri in a court system that his administration may ultimately find illegitimate, not for any other reason, sources told ABC News.

President Obama has expressed concern about whether the military commissions set up by the Bush administration are the proper way to go forward in pursuing charges against the U.S. detainees, and on January 22 he asked all the judges supervising the trials of detainees for a continuance of 120 days, so a team of administration officials could review the best way forward.

In almost the cases, that continuance request was granted. But last week the judge supervising the al-Nashiri trial -- Army Col. James L. Pohl, the chief judge at the Guantanamo Bay war crimes court -- said he would not heed President Obama's request for a 120-day continuance, or delay, in prosecutions of terrorism suspects. Pohl called the president's request "not reasonable" and not "in the interests of justice."

The arraignment of al-Nashiri is scheduled for Monday, February 9.

Al-Nashiri has been identified as the former Persian Gulf Operations Chief for al Qaeda and the mastermind of the attack on the U.S.S. Cole. In March 2007 he testified in military court that he only confessed to certain crimes because he has been tortured for the previous five years.

Asked for reaction to the news, Commander Kirk Lippold (Ret.), former Commander aboard the U.S.S. Cole when it was bombed on October 12, 2000, told ABC News that he was "concerned" about the move.

"For some reason the administration says what's been expressed through the legislature is not sufficient," Lippold said of the military commissions, which he said had "undergone extensive legal and legislative review...They need to allow the process to go forward."

The 26-year Navy veteran said he found the decision to close the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay "disappointing," but he seemed willing to hear the president out.

"I'm interested in hearing what his long-term plan is on how he's going to deal with the detainees because he hasn't articulated that," he said. "He may have a clear-cut path that may massage some of the concerns that I know many of the families have right now."

In a way, the President tied his administration's own hands, requiring his Secretary of Defense to drop the charges. The executive order President Obama signed on closing the Guantanamo Detention Facilities states that "all proceedings" in the US Military Commissions must be "halted":

"The Secretary of Defense shall immediately take steps sufficient to ensure that during the pendency of the Review described in section 4 of this order, no charges are sworn, or referred to a military commission under the Military Commissions Act of 2006 and the Rules for Military Commissions, and that all proceedings of such military commissions to which charges have been referred but in which no judgment has been rendered, and all proceedings pending in the United States Court of Military Commission Review, are halted."

Lippold, a Senior Military Fellow with Military Families United, served on the Joint Chiefs of Staff and crafted detainee policy in the initial stages of what the Pentagon called the Global War on Terror. He was invited to meet with the President along with the other families tomorrow.

"I'm looking forward to hearing what the president has to say tomorrow when he meets with the families of the U.S.S. Cole," Lippold said.

- Jake Tapper with additional reporting by Luis Martinez at the Pentagon

* This post has been updated.

[Pilgrim]

This is political clumsiness at it's glowing best. Barack Hussein Obama lets a Muslim terrorist off the hook that killed American sailors, and then wants to meet the next day with the families of this terrorist's victims? If Bush had done something like this he would have been castigated in the press as a complete fool, and rightly so. Here's a quote from a good article that sums up the feelings of certain families of Cole victims:

Diane McDaniels, whose son was killed in the Cole bombing, also declined an invitation to meet the president, saying she was too disillusioned with Obama for dropping the charges.
"My son was blown up along with 16 others. I buried body parts for three years," she told FOX News. "I'm still suffering and now he's withdrawing the charges?
"There's nothing he can say to make me feel better," she explained, adding that Obama is sending the wrong message to the American people. "He may be the president but he's wrong."

The entire article can be found at this link:

Families of Cole Victims Worry White House Meeting Is Window Dressing - First 100 Days of Presidency - Politics FOXNews.com

Couple this with the groveling interview Obama did on a Muslim TV network a few days ago, and one can't help but wonder what our country's attitude toward Islamo-fascists will be for the next four years.

[Jayman]

Yes We Can!

[layoutshooter]

Can you say "aiding and abetting" the enemy? Not at all like the scum bag Slick Willy, Jane Fonda etc. Obama sucks. Boot him out!!! Layoutshooter

[hdxpedx]

The cnn news crawl saturday read "Palin's hushand aides held in contempt"-- next crawl "USS COLE MASTERMIND charges DROPPED" !! the Palin's are the LEFT'S enemies and the terrorist are PARTNERS!!

[layoutshooter]

And you are surprised about this? This nation ELECTED a government that agrees with those who are trying to kill us. SOOOO many people fell for the "Bill of Goods" that the "Pravda" of the United Soviet Socialist States force fed them every day for the better part of the last 10-15 years. Just wait, it will not be long until we are attacked either from outside sources or our own government, most likely they will bring in United Nations troops to control the U.S. population. Layoutshooter

[bryan]

Hi

The problem is double jeoparty law.If they charge this guy with murder and then the military court is found to be illegal then this guy has to be set free and can not brought back to trial for the same charges.As a matter of fact he could actually apply for US citizenship and no info from the military court could be used in making the decision.

George Bush was told this as soon as he opened Guitmo but he decided to ignore the warnings and would leave the problem for somebody else to figure out. The old "lets just hurry up and do something and worry about the consequences later" motto.SNAFU

[layoutshooter]

They should have just shot him the day they caught him. I am fed up treating these so called "people" as if they had the same "Rights" as we do. They are human scum and should be treated as such. My son was decaracted for capturing the "PIG' responsible for the capture, torture, be-heading and display of 3 soldiers from the 10th Mountain Division. We have to give that scum "rights" under the Geneva Convention even though they don't. The only way to defeat this ememy is fight them for real. Not in uniform? POW!! That's it. Attack civilian targets? POW! Thats it. I have no use for this stupid LEGAL garbage. I have a very simple outlook. You attack my country, my family or me and ALL bets are off. No matter who you are. That includes all "Terrorists" or government official, soldier etc from ANY government on the face of the earth. I have no problem just "putting a round through an ear" if I got the chance. They would do it to me in a heart beat. Layoutshooter

[chefdennis]

He is a POW, he has no rights in our legal system and no rights as a citizen to our court system. He can allpy for citizenship y=tiday yesterday or tomnmorrow, it won't happen has a POW, that cas would have to be settled before hand. There is no double jeoperty here because he will be found guilty in a military court. The only issue is Barry wants to be "kinder and gentler' to this pos and those like him. Wait till they move this garbage to a US prison, they can kiss all of their special treatments that they get at Gitmo away, "poof" gone...........well unless Barry treats his kind to better treatment then the american citizens that occupy the prisons now......

I am with Layout, all they needed to do was kill him as soon as they had him, or even now... funny things happen on the way to the store.......

[layoutshooter]

And then run the body through a limb chipper and shoot it out over a carp pond. Cheaper than burial or cremation. They don't deserve treatment that normal humans are entitled too. Layoutshooter

[layoutshooter]

I don't even consider them to be POW's. That would imply that they are members of some nations military. They are just plain scum. Pure scum. They are worthy only of contempt. Attacking un-armed civilians, blowing up weddings and funerals. Blowing up hospitals. And this president is giving them the time of day. Scum protects scum. Layoutshooter

[mjolnir131]

interesting that story never made it to CNN maybe it was just to difficult to spin

[layoutshooter]

Which story? The one about my son? CNN is in bed with the terrorists. They blame us for this mess we are in. CNN and the news media in general hates the United States and everything that we stand for. They are as reliable as Pravda. Layoutshooter

[cheri1122]

The Chef & LOS had no problem 'spinning' it to reflect their preconceived notions, eh? Never mind that charges were dropped without prejudice, so they can be reinstated without risking double jeopardy, or that the suspect remains in custody - just pretend that Obama is a friend to terrorists, because that's what they want to think.
I admire Obama for wanting to be sure that when the scum are convicted, it will be airtight. And I'm pretty sure that having taught Constitutional law, the President has a better grasp of the potential loopholes than the rest of us, as well.
PS the namecalling ("Barry") is childish and takes away from, rather than adding to, any credibility you hope to have, IMO.

[layoutshooter]

These are not crimials. They are attacking our country. We all know where you stand. You can believe what you want. I spent a lifetime in the real world dealing with this human garbage every day. You have not. You have no backround or experiance in this what so ever. Neither does the current resident of the White House. His pick for Director of the CIA proves that. I would really like to know just how much he was involved in the Berger cover-up. His pick of the self-admitted felon, Clinton, for Sec of State proves that. She should be in jail not in a high office. So should her husband for the same charges. Mis-handling and illegal use of classified documents. A very major felony. If I had done what Hillary, Slick Willy and Berger did I would STILL be in jail 20 years later. You might be willing to excuse these criminals but I am not. This is not spin, they all have broken multilple laws and get away with. And Obama rewards them for it. And He treats these people who would kill you and your family at the drop of a hat like they are human. You can choose to life with Coke a Cola deplomacy and gaga land fairy tails, I cannot. My son and newphew lives are on the line. As are yours and mine. What a shame you don't understand what is going on in the real world. Layoutshooter