Obama's injustice for terror victims

Arthur Herman:

IMAGINE a terrorist setting off a bomb in your home, killing 17 friends and family members. Two years later, you learn authorities have caught the mastermind of the attack, who's confessed not only to bombing your house but other acts of terrorism.

Then, six years later, you hear that the charges against the killer have been dropped and that he might go free - while those who arrested and questioned him may face congressional investigation and even jail time.

If you can get your mind around this nightmare, then you can appreciate the feelings of retired US Navy Cmdr. Kirk Lippold, former skipper of the destroyer USS Cole.

On Oct. 12, 2000, terrorists set off a bomb alongside the Cole as it was peacefully moored in the port of Aden. The blast killed 17 members of Lippold's command and wounded nearly 40 others.

On Thursday, proceedings against the bombing's mastermind, Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, were suspended and the charges against him dropped, thanks to President Obama's executive order putting on hold all military tribunals for terror suspects. The charges may be reinstated later, depending on the results of the administration's review of these issues. Where that review is leading is unclear - and al-Nashiri's release, despite his confessed guilt, becomes a real possibility.

All this is more than just a direct slap at the men and women of our armed forces. There's good reason to worry that leftist ideology will lead our government to see the rights of terrorists as more important than the safety of those who fight them.

On that same day, after all, Obama's nominee to head the CIA, Leon Panetta, was being pressured by members of Congress to say that the new administration intends to prosecute the Americans who interrogated al-Nashiri and other terror detainees.

This is a bizarre twist on "Crime and Punishment," where terrorists commit the crimes, and those who stop them get punished.

Yes, Panetta and Attorney General Eric Holder have both said they don't want to see CIA or military officials prosecuted for doing their jobs. But if al-Nashiri's lawyers manage to get him out of prison, congressional Democrats and the US left will demand that those who tried to keep him from killing other Americans - indeed, every person who took an active role in the Bush War on Terror - take his place.

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Obama officials insist that al-Nashiri will ultimately face justice. The president himself says he is just waiting for "the right judge" for the case. But don't hold your breath. Al-Nashiri is one of three CIA detainees who were waterboarded in the weeks/months after 9/11, in order to force him to provide information about al Qaeda in Yemen and possible plans for other attacks.

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The guy did provide a lot of valuable information after his persuasive interrogation. Many on the left view that as a get out of jail free card. There are many in the Democrat party in Congress as well as in the left wing anti war groups who want to prosecute those responsible for getting the information out of the terrorist. That is a warped sense of justice. If the Democrats really try this they will be defeated in the next election.