A Republican senator is offering the White House a deal on terror trials.
Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina says that if President Obama agrees to try Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed and four accused henchmen in military tribunals, he will press fellow Republicans to vote to close the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
Mr. Graham, interviewed Sunday on CBS’ “Face the Nation,” says reversing Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr.’s plan to try terror suspects in a civilian court in New York City would be seen as an act of leadership by the public.
The White House is reviewing Mr. Holder’s plan and no new recommendation has been presented to the president. A decision is not expected for several weeks.
Beyond the Mohammed case, Mr. Graham also said a new legal framework is needed to deal with the most dangerous detainees at Guantanamo.
“We need a legal system that gives due process to the detainee, but also understands they didn’t rob a liquor store,” he said.
Closing the facility at Guantanamo was a key promise that Mr. Obama made when he took office, but it remains unfulfilled as he battles pressure from both sides of the political aisle. Most Republicans say it’s a mistake to shutter the prison and hold trials in civilian courts while Mr. Obama’s Democratic allies say closing Guantanamo down is a vital step in remaking the United States’ image abroad.
In a full-page ad in Sunday’s New York Times, the American Civil Liberties Union said if Mr. Obama fails to back Mr. Holder, he will be extending the policies of the Bush administration. The ad shows an image of Mr. Obama on the left and in subsequent panels moving to the right the image morphs into a portrayal President George W. Bush, who set up Guantanamo for suspected terrorists.
“As president, Barack Obama must decide whether to keep his solemn promise to restore our Constitution and due process, or ignore his vow and continue the Bush-Cheney policies,” the ad states.
The ACLU says the U.S. criminal justice system has successfully handled more than 300 terrorism cases compared with three in military tribunals.
The White House did not plan to respond to the ACLU ad.
“He’s getting beat up badly from the left, but the ACLU theory of how to manage this war I think is way off base,” Mr. Graham said. “And those who want to waterboard on the right and believe that we should keep [Guantanamo] open forever and use any technique to get information, I think they’re equally off base.”
Mr. Graham said he will need help from senior military officials, including Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and former Bush administration officials.
“I can’t do it by myself,” he said. “I’m going to need people from the Bush administration to try to close [Guantanamo], to put aside partisanship, rally around this president, stand by his side and say, ’Let’s close Gitmo safely,’ ” he said.
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