As the left wing media has howled, KSM was one of about five people the Bush Administration water boarded, an interrogation technique many consider torture. The NYT reported on sinister conspiracies whereby Sec. Rumsfeld and V.P. Cheney personally authorized KSM’s torture, as if they shouldn’t take an interest in their most valuable detainee. Many Americans, however, support the enhanced interrogation techniques, as outlets other than the NYT, NPR, and Jon Stewart call them. They view KSM as an illegal combatant for whom the Constitutional protections don’t apply. Further, even if the alleged torture was wrong, it is hard to fault the CIA because KSM held valuable information that ended up saving American lives.
As a preponderance, the ‘KSM-got-what-he-deserved’ crowd doesn’t live in Manhattan. NYC is a hotbed of blame America sentiment. To this day, Midtown is scattered with ‘Bush Did It For Oil’ stickers, courtesy of despicable 911 Truthers. The streets of Manhattan will overflow with anti-torture protestors once the KSM trial begins. Undoubtedly, one of the first pretrial motions by KSM defense will be to suppress any statements he made under duress, including his confession to masterminding the 9/11 attacks. Expect a circus, whereby KSM’s alleged torturers will be hauled before the court to answer for their crimes against Manhattan humanity. Pres. Bush, Cheney, and Rumsfeld will also have to fight off subpoenas. No serious person doubts KSM’s culpability, so the defense will focus on indicting the CIA, the Bush Administration, and the cruelty inflicted on a humble Muslim.
These ugly spectacles would be unavoidable anywhere in the US, but the choice of NYC will only amplify them. Obama must know that NYC is chock full of left leaning lawyers and media elites who will swarm this orgy of self-loathing and US rapprochement. The scheme has a whiff of Rahm Emmanuel and bare knuckles Chicago politics.
Even if he did not watch the recent election returns, Obama knows that the tide of popular opinion has turned against him and his socialist agenda. The majority of Americans oppose cap and trade, socialized health care, and card check. The KSM trial will rehash the most controversial elements of the Bush Administration, with front page coverage and lead editorials in the NYT for months. The choice of New York for KSM’s trial suggests that Obama wants to remind voters of how bad Bush and the Republicans were, just as voters prepare for the 2010 elections.
Even by Emmanuel standards, trying KSM in New York in the midst of mid-term elections is cynical political calculus. Obama may preach reconciliation, but he has surrounded himself with hyper-partisan operatives that give political hacks a bad name.