President Obama relinquished plans to try alleged 9/11 plotter Khalid Skikh Mohammed and four others in a Manhatten civilian court. See Time’s “The World”. Senator Lindsey Graham, a Republican form South-Carolina and several other U.S. senators have announced that they will move to cut funding unless the President tries the five 9/11 suspects in a military court. Both United States Attorney General Eric Holder and White House Spokesperson Robert Gibbs have announced that a military trial is still an option. See N.Y. Time’s and Wall Street Journal. On one hand holding the trials in the civilian court could cost upwards of $1 billion in security and last years. On the other, military trials in recent U.S. history have proven unconstitutionally sound. See Boumediene v. Bush. The issue of where to try alleged terrorists was not an easy question for President Bush and it will not be an easy question for President Obama. Nonetheless, the final decision of “where?” could have interesting policy and legal implications.
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