{"id":8002,"date":"2009-11-13T16:40:34","date_gmt":"2009-11-13T21:40:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/law.marquette.edu\/facultyblog\/?p=8002"},"modified":"2009-11-13T16:40:34","modified_gmt":"2009-11-13T21:40:34","slug":"feingold-sept-11-prosecutions-will-advance-justice-and-american-world-standing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/law.marquette.edu\/facultyblog\/2009\/11\/feingold-sept-11-prosecutions-will-advance-justice-and-american-world-standing\/","title":{"rendered":"Feingold: Sept. 11 Prosecutions Will Advance Justice and American World Standing"},"content":{"rendered":"

The decision to prosecute five people accused of involvement in the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks in federal court in New York drew support Friday from US Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.) in comments at a one-hour discussion at Marquette University Law School.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s the way to go,\u201d said Feingold, who has been highly critical of the long confinement, without trial, of the suspects at the military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.<\/p>\n

At the same time, US Attorney General Eric Holder Jr. announced that several other suspected terrorists will be tried in military courts. That group includes Ad Al-Rahim al-Nashiri, who allegedly planned another major attack, the bombing of the Navy destroyer Cole<\/em> in 2000 in Yemen.<\/p>\n

The decisions to go the two different routes in the cases will provide an interesting opportunity to compare civil and military handling of cases of this kind, Feingold told Mike Gousha, who moderated the session and who is a distinguished fellow in law and public policy at the Law School.<\/p>\n

Feingold said bringing the Sept. 11 suspects, including Khalid Shaikh Muhammed, who has claimed he masterminded the attacks, into civil courts and allowing the justice system to proceed to a verdict on their cases is the appropriate course, said Feingold, a member of the Senate\u2019s Judiciary Committee. \u201cThis advances not only our legal system, but our credibility in the world,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Feingold said that he is an opponent of the death penalty, but, \u201cIf there is a place where the death penalty should be administered, it is probably this case.\u201d The bombings of the World Trade Center and the Pentagon and lethal crash of a commercial flight in Pennsylvania killed almost 3,000 people.<\/p>\n

Feingold praised President Barack Obama for the way he is handling decisions about the future of military involvement in Afghanistan. Feingold said Obama was right to take his time and to consider all options, including a plan for phased withdrawal that Feingold has advocated. Several months ago, Feingold became the first senator to back such a plan. But he said Obama appears to be taking the possibility seriously.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy is it we are continuing this huge land war in Afghanistan?\u201d he asked. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t add up.\u201d He said al-Qaeda has moved its bases out of Afghanistan and he does not think an end to American military involvement would mean a return of al-Qaeda power in the country.<\/p>\n

Addressing other subjects, Feingold said:<\/p>\n