tsai3904
04-05-2011, 06:03 PM
I heard Michael Scheuer on NPR today discussing the Obama administration's decision to try KSM (9/11 mastermind) in a military tribunal instead of a civilian court.
He made a lot of bold statements like the terrorists are guilty prisoners of war (when asked if "these men" are guilty he responded "absolutely"), that they should not be put on trial, and that they should be held in stockades where the Red Cross can visit them.
After listening to his interview, I'm very confused about what is the right thing to do. Scheuer makes the distinction that the terrorists we capture are prisoners of war instead of illegal alien enemy combatants (although he says that the definition of prisoners of war needs to be changed to include these terrorists). What is the difference between these definitions (I understand that we never declared war)? If individuals fire on US soldiers in Iraq and were captured, are we suppose to bring them to NY and try them in a federal court? I assume there must be hundreds of these individuals held in Iraq/Afghanistan.
You can listen to the full interview here:
http://www.scpr.org/programs/patt-morrison/2011/04/05/times-opens-fire-on-obama/
He made a lot of bold statements like the terrorists are guilty prisoners of war (when asked if "these men" are guilty he responded "absolutely"), that they should not be put on trial, and that they should be held in stockades where the Red Cross can visit them.
After listening to his interview, I'm very confused about what is the right thing to do. Scheuer makes the distinction that the terrorists we capture are prisoners of war instead of illegal alien enemy combatants (although he says that the definition of prisoners of war needs to be changed to include these terrorists). What is the difference between these definitions (I understand that we never declared war)? If individuals fire on US soldiers in Iraq and were captured, are we suppose to bring them to NY and try them in a federal court? I assume there must be hundreds of these individuals held in Iraq/Afghanistan.
You can listen to the full interview here:
http://www.scpr.org/programs/patt-morrison/2011/04/05/times-opens-fire-on-obama/