First Guantanamo detainee heads to federal court

It makes no sense NOT to bring the terrorists to trial in US Courts. Of course, the problem is evidence and I presume they have enough evidence to convict here, otheriwse they wouldn't be doing it. This would be the utlimate show of the rule of law and justice.

Hope he gets a visit from NY Mafia enforcers.

Admistration is nuts bringing them over here and spending my tax dollars.Dem's should be voted out of office.

Leave them there! Who is going to pay for the lawyers "THE TAX PAYER". This is what the military law if for!!!!!

You can have a trial in Guantanamo with US attorneys and judges. It is considered American soil. They will foster extremism in a US prison system that already has militant muslims in it. There is absolutley no need to bring them onto the continental US. Except maybe for execution.

It does not make sense to bring these individuals to be tried in our court systems. To give him the same rights that every american has earned, and rights that he despises is unjust. He will get the opportunity with a slick attorney to plea bargin his sentence. If he is convicted wher will he be placed? In our over crowded jail system where he can spread his hate for america. No thank you keep them in GITMO or release them back to their country to stand trial where they may recieve a bullet or be hung for their crimes. Over here in america we will give them three square meals and a bed.

These bloody US govenment & their shameless medias never talk about these people's human rights violations. All the shameless human rights activits & UNHRC members keep silence like dogs & never talk about these people & instead those bloody animals talk about human rights violations in other countries. US government is war criminals & they never suit for natural death. Osama we are waiting for u...kill these sobs.

Rep. Eric Cantor is a grandstanding doofus. "Terrorists spend years trying to sneak inside our borders", he says, all the while millions of people with little to no resources stream across the southern border relatively unimpeded, just seeking food and jobs. I'm pretty sure al-qaida can get in if they want to, no matter how we decide to handle our prisoners.

So you are saying it makes sense to give terrorists the same rights as any US citizen and make the country less?

I support President Obama on the Guantanamo issue. I support the right to trial for all of them. Patricia Baker

Any good defense lawyer can get the Guantanamo Bay prisoners' cases dismissed in Federal Court because they were not Mirandized before they were taken prisoner.

While I don't like the idea of these guys infecting our already troubled prison system (where they will no doubt be recruiting lots of new converts, who WILL plague us in the future), I do look forward to having the world see American citizens convict these guys and send them to the chamber. As much as these guys claim to want their thirty virgins in heaven, only a very few of them have the actual guts to cross that line, and I believe televised death penalties would go far in discourage future acts of terrorism against Americans. The same crowd that has been crying out about Guantanamo and water-boarding will no doubt then be crying out about death penalties for these mass murderers. Oh, well.

We're either a nation of laws, or we're not. The 14th amendment of our Constitution clearly covers this area of Law, not subject to interpretation. Read it yourself. You can't say "except for terrorists". It's either the Law of the land, or it's not. I suggest Americans read their Constitution, and apply it. Polititians just keep inflamming this issue, to appeal to some of the people; it sounds good, but it's not legal. Perhaps that's why the Law only applies to poor people; if you're the Vice-President, it does not.

For a lot of countries, indefinite detention without trial is a political weapon used to silence dissent. America's criticism of these countries would sound very hollow and hypocritical if the symbol of Guantanamo is not eradicated. The Republicans obviously does not practise what they preach.

Oh my God its such a great news!!! its a great day and should go down in American history books in golden letters! Tormented down trodden guy will finally get justice. I am sure ACLU and moveon must be having a carnival today!!! Who cares who many people he killed, its a great opportunity to show the world how just we are.

Bringing the prisoners to our soil shows that we do not fear these terrorists and that we will bring them to justice for the horrendous acts they have committed.

This proceeding is quite remarkable; we can keep the insane and ireparably criminal in our jails interminably, but we don't want to bring over a couple hundred people that may or may not have terrorist affiliations? I refuse to believe that the facilities that house our worst mass murderers and serial killers are unable or unqualified to house suspected terrorists.

From the article: "He has also proposed indefinite detention for those who the government does not have enough usable evidence against, but who the administration believes are too dangerous to release." Come on, what would Jack Bauer do here? They'd release him and wiretap him so hard that the entire US Government would know it when he farts... but they'd release him, because that's right.

In 2010, we must stop the Democratic socialists by changing the political make up of congress. We will never be as safe as long as they are in charge and they are crippling the country with massive debt and socialist agenda. Obama is as dumb as a rock and can not hurt the country as badly if he doesn't have rubber-stamp congress.

Space Ace...you state "show of the rule of law and justice". And how many years have most of the "terrorists" been held at Guantánamo with out ever being charge with a crime? Law and Justice my arse !!!!!
I say send them back to where they came from and turn gitmo into a tourist hotel resort.

Looks like a test case that, if it goes well, will take the wind out of the sails of the Republicans and all their complaining. If we don't take some of them here, how are we going to ask other countries to do the same?

Barry who's tax dollars do you think are being used to run Guantanamo?

"Massimino also testified that any attempt to revise the military commissions and continue to detain Guantánamo prisoners without trial would be counterproductive and undermine the Obama's efforts to “enlist the power of our fundamental values.”

Ms. Massimino, I have one question for you. Which "values" are you referring to specifically? Since when did protecting our own tails here in the US, especially in the last 8 years since 9/11become less important than what France and other Euro-weenie country think of us. I have news for your maam , since 9/11 our policy of locking up bad guys at Gitmo has saved more lives than your nebulous organization Human Rights First ever has.

So, the Obama regime will send only a few detainees to New York to stand trial? Why just a few? And in the same article, the Obama regime is quoted as suggesting they should indefinitely detain those "who the government does not have enough usable evidence against".

Does that make sense to anybody else? Yikes.

Let's just give him a "green card" and buy him a new car. He'll forget about jihad ... yeah, right.

about time they are starting to get the prisioners which are held there up here. He may not be guilty at all. i don't think he knew what was going on. he was only a kid at the time. Hope they give him a chance to go to school up here so he can better himself.

What happens when the ACLU lawyers get them off on a technicality (see Bill Ayers). Do you just release them?

Thanks, BO. Nice to know you’re looking out for TERRORISTS instead of the American people. And we are paying for this puke’s defense. How utterly disgusting and a kick in the face to all of the victims and their families.

The limbaughians are using their time warm and pathetic FEAR TACTICS yet one more time. It is the most effective manipulation they have found in getting support from the weak, By doing this, they are showing a complete lack of faith in our judicial and penal system once again attacking some of our most effective institutions in a feeble attempt to gain political traction. Unfortunately, as has become the norm for them, they are greasing the slippery slope of political irrelevancy they started down many years ago with their incessant pandering to what have become extremist who definitely embrace fascistic methodology to rule.
Bh the way, I feel if the prison system is capablle of holding the soldier who shot an killed that iraqi family to death the raped their daughter and killed her, it is capable of imprisonment of islamic militants. As american we can handle this on our soil. We are the home fo the brave.

'Laws? We don't need no stinking Laws!', and they sure dont follow the ones agreed upon at geneva or any other rational civilization either! do call, me a fine shade of jade and maybe swap a few of them for the two reporters in North Korea, i'm sure they would love to enjoy swapping tales of gore and torture. or better yet, subject them to the american system of health care that 40 million USA citizens are already suffering with FOR REAL!.

Yeah, right, Patricia Baker, just like the 3,000 in NY who had a right to due process before being incinerated or crushed.

Coming soon, to a town near you, terrorists in your local jails......

Back in 2001 and 2002 when the majority of these guys were detained, they were captured in battle. Our soldiers do not follow the methods our police do of evidence collection or preserving a 'crime scene.' I have seen first-hand how this works out. The evidence for alot of these guys will either be reports of the circumstances of capture, or intelligence reports linking detainees to certain activities. It will be hard for a prosecutor to argue a solid case with limitations like these.
I don't want these people in my backyeard either.. but we detained them. They are our problem. What else could we do?

now this a trial that should have full media coverage and televised nationally.... unlike this Clark Rockafeller crap!

The only solution is to give him an orange jumpsuit so he can be the head gardener at the new W. Bush retirement homestead.

If you are US soldier charged with a crime while on active duty, you will get a court martial - a trial in a military court. You won't get to go to federal court. If it's good enough for our soldiers, why not for terrorists? You can't fight a war in the courtroom. The very suggestion is ludicrous. There was nothing wrong with the military tribunals. Even Obama wants to use them for some detainees. Others will be held without trial. Others will be freed. And guys like Ghailani get full constitutional rights and lawyer paid for by you and me. There is zero consistency or logic in Obama's "plan" to handle these people.

Naveen, please feel free to move back to your land of sand and rock. Good luck trying to post any of your comments when you get there. Don't forget to cover up and ask for male supervision when you want to leave your cave!

Wow. What a lot of illogical drivel! Guantanamo and military tribunals also cost money. These people get representation regardless of where they are tried. I like the comment about 'we are the home of the brave'. Really, a lot of you seem to think we are somehow safe with American criminals. Please bear in mind that these people are getting their day in court because their guilt has not yet been determined. Many of you have already judged and don't know any of the facts of these cases. Yeah, that congressman sounds like a winner (not). Its brilliant to bring these guys into the country and make an example of them above board. And it shows bravery. And the reality is that we protect ourselves by being brave, strong, compassionate, and fair - not by fearing the taint of having a terrorist in custody within our borders.

So, I guess during WWI, WWII, Korea, and Vietnam, when we captured enemy combatants on the battlefield, we flew them to NY for a trial? Of course not. We held them in POW camps. That is what Gitmo is, a POW camp, and we are still at war.