Another African embassy bombing trial to give al Qaeda intelligence info

NY Times:

A suspected al-Qaeda militant accused in the deadly 1998 bombings of American embassies in Tanzania and Kenya will be tried in a civilian court in New York, making him the first Guantánamo Bay detainee to be tried in an American civilian court, the Justice Department said Thursday.

“By prosecuting Ahmed Ghailani in federal court, we will ensure that he finally answers for his alleged role in the bombing of our embassies in Tanzania and Kenya,” Attorney General Eric Holder said in a statement.

The decision to try Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani in New York stemmed directly from the review ordered by President Obama in January of the cases of all 240 terror suspects held at the Guantánamo detention center. Mr. Obama is scheduled to give what the White House has billed as a major speech on the handling of the detainees on Thursday morning.

The administration has encountered unexpectedly stiff opposition to moving some of the detainees to the United States, including overwhelming votes in both the House and Senate to oppose appropriating funds to close the Guantánamo Bay detention center.

Mr. Ghailani’s case is probably one of the easier one to bring to the forefront. He faces charges in a pre-Sept. 11 crime; no one charged with Sept. 11 crimes has yet been tried in an American civilian court. The case against him also appears well-developed. And New York City has experience with terrorist trials.

The indictment alleges that Mr. Ghailani helped purchase the Nissan truck and the oxygen and acetylene tanks used in the bombing of the United States embassy in Tanzania, and that he helped load boxes of TNT, cylinder tanks, detonators, fertilizer and other materials into the truck before the bombing.

He was captured in July 2004 and, in September 2006, transferred along with other “high value detainees” to Guantánamo Bay.

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In the first African embassy bombing trials, Osama bin Laden discovered that the US had been listening to his satellite phone conversations and quit using them denying us an opportunity to learn of the 9-11 plot. That he was using the phone was no secret since he used to call reporters including one at the BBC to deny his involvement in the embassy bombings. But at the trial transcripts showed his communications with the bombers. The phone went silent after that.

Other important intelligence was also released through the discovery process which aided the enemy in avoiding detection in his 9-11 plot. In fact trials going back to the original attack on the World Trade Center have provided intelligence to al Qaeda. These trials are a demonstration of how inappropriate the lawfare model is for fighting terrorist enemies.

By bringing this guy back to New York for a trial, it is clear that Holder and the Obama administration either do not comprehend the aid they are giving to the enemy or they don't care because of the political prejudice against using the more appropriate forums of military tribunals.