Rep Trent Franks (R-AZ): AG Eric Holder to Turn 180 on Terror Trials or Resign Immediately

So, it begins. Rep. Trent Franks of Arizona's second district has called for Attorney General Eric Holder's immediate resignation, if he doesn't reverse course on how their prosecuting the terror trials:

November 18, 2010 -- Congressman Trent Franks (AZ-02), a Member of the House Judiciary Committee and the Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties, today issued the following statement in response to the Ghailani verdict:

"Despite Attorney General Holder's promises that "these cases have to be won" and that "failure is not an option," yesterday's ruling will be remembered as one of the most blatant miscarriages of justice in the history of our federal criminal court system. I cannot imagine a greater affront to the families of the victims who have waited so long for justice on behalf of their loved ones, nor can I imagine a more dangerous signal that was sent to our enemies, than to see a man who had already admitted to the 1998 African Embassy bombings, and who continued to work as an Al Qaeda operative and even a Bin Laden bodyguard until as late as 2004, acquitted of more than 280 criminal charges due to procedural protections in the civil court that precluded critical evidence from being admitted.

"The Obama Administration has now fundamentally characterized itself with the word "failure." In this case, failure comes with the unspeakably high cost of the shock, pain, and grief to the families of the 224 innocent people who were murdered and the more than 4,000 people who were wounded in these horrific terrorist attacks, who were all just told by a federal court that the man who irrefutably helped create the bombs that maimed and slaughtered their innocent loved ones is not guilty of a single count of murder.

"If this insane policy of appeasing terrorists and granting them American Constitutional rights to be tried as quasi American citizens continues, the cost of this failure will pale in comparison to the cost of the failure that will undoubtedly yet occur as a result of this ruling. Terrorists now have incontrovertible evidence that they can exploit the American justice system and they will use this knowledge to train new terrorist recruits and manipulate their cases if and when they are caught.

"Yesterday's ruling was a demonstration of why military tribunals were created and why they are so important. Military tribunals have long been established for those accused of war crimes. By definition, these tribunals are set up to deal with the unique challenges dealing with those who commit, in cases such as this, acts of terror against innocent civilians. These types of tribunals have been used before with great success. For instance, during WWII a group of Nazis were charged with attempting to terrorize citizens within the United States, in an effort to dissuade them from entering the war. They were captured and tried in a military tribunal in less than a month.

"President Bush once said, 'We must not let foreign enemies use the forums of liberty to destroy liberty itself.' Because of the current Administration's blind commitment to a radically misguided and dangerous philosophy, President Obama is now responsible for one of the greatest cracks in the foundation of liberty I have witnessed in my lifetime. Our children and grandchildren may be made to pay a terrible price as a result.

"Unfortunately, the failure of the Ghailani verdict is just the beginning. In light of this disastrous ruling-- the obvious consequence of the Administration's own disastrous terror trial policy-- I call on Eric Holder to either repudiate the Administration's policy on terror trials, or resign immediately."

Personally, I think that he should have resigned, when he dropped the case against the Black Panthers that intimidated voters back in 2008.

Unfortunately, unless Obama tries someone like KSM that gets acquitted, I don't see this escalating to the point where Holder has to resign, and I think that the chance of that happening is nil. Obama won't chance such an embarrassment so close to the 2012 elections.

Top GOP Black Candidate(Allen West-FL) Slams Obama Over How Black Panther Voter Intimidation Case Was Handled

One of the black GOP candidates running for the House this November had some stark criticism for Obama regarding his handling of the Black Panter voter intimidation case:

One of the GOP's handful of black candidates for Congress condemned President Barack Obama of exploiting race for political gain.

Allen West, the Republican challenging Rep. Ron Klein (D) in Florida's 22nd congressional district, sharply criticized the Obama administration for having allegedly declined prosecuting the New Black Panther Party on voter tampering charges for political reasons.

For an Administration that promised a new era in race relations, Obama and the Democrats in Congress have demonstrated that race will continually be exploited for political gain, West, who is one of two African-American Republicans running for Congress who have survived their primaries, said in a statement.

West was picking up on a meme that's made its way through conservative blogs in recent days, based on whistleblower claims made by a former Justice Department employee. Charges against the Black Panthers for their actions on Election Day 2008 weren't pursued because of racial politics, the employee charged. The Justice Department says charges were dropped due to lack of evidence.

West drew on his own history with race to condemn the Black Panthers, as well as other black Democrats, who he said had remained silent when he'd been called racially-ringed names during the course of his campaign.

The dye has been cast in this election cycle - Democrats and their liberal progressive socialist allies will continue to play the race card when it is politically expedient, West said. I demand an investigation of the New Black Panther Party and the placement of it, along with any extremist group, onto the Terrorist Watch List if warranted. If that it not done prior to my taking the oath of office as a United States Congressman, it will happen soon thereafter.

More Proof that Eric Holder Doesn’t Know What He’s Doing: Black Panther Released By Holder Expresses Desire to Kill Whites

Via Naked Emperor News and Ed Morrissey of Hot Air: This is a video of one of the Black Panthers that makes you wonder even more what the hell was Eric Holder thinking dropping the charges against him for voter intimidation?:

Good News: 4 Gitmo Terrorists Transferred to Bermuda

Gitmo terrorists, you have been caught trying to kill Americans. Let's see what you've won. It's an all-expense paid trip to the tropical island of Bermuda paid for by the American government and Barack Obama:

Four Uighur detainees from Guantanamo Bay have been sent to Bermuda, officials said Thursday.

Four trained terrorists bent on killing westerners especially Americans are sent to a heavy trafficked by Americans tourist destination. What could go wrong?

Eric Holder echoes the sentiment that closing Gitmo will make Americans safer without giving any proof. I fail to see how moving terrorists to tourist spots frequented by Americans will make us safer.

Someone in the admonistration tried to make us feel better with this statement:

An Obama administration source told ABC News that "the Uighurs will not be able to travel to the United States unless the U.S. government consents in advance."

Somehow, I don't feel comforted. I know that I don't have any urge to visit Bermuda any time soon.

Also, I wonder why the US would ever consider consenting to the admittance into this country. It should be off the table for life. Letting the terrorists now that it is a possibility makes Obama seem a bit soft.

Attorney General Holder Opens Door For Bush & Co. Extradition For Trial Internationally?

The AP buried this statement deep in their article of Holder commenting on the status of closing Gitmo and the topic of the Spanish inquisition of Bush came up. Apparently, they either don't see the danger of this thinking or they know it is and are trying to save Obama from another embarrassing quote from his Cabinet. My vote is for the latter:

In speaking to reporters Wednesday, Holder also said it is possible the United States could cooperate with a foreign court's investigation of Bush administration officials.

Holder spoke before the announcement that a Spanish magistrate had opened an investigation of Bush officials on harsh interrogation methods. Holder didn't rule out cooperating in such a probe.

"Obviously, we would look at any request that would come from a court in any country and see how and whether we should comply with it," Holder said.

Hold it right there. ANY request from ANY foreign court will be considered.

What?

This is a nightmare for Obama just waiting to happen. The One will be flooded with requests from every two-bit court in the Middle East bent on punishing "the Great Satan" and every liberal European judge who wants to drag Dubya through the mud.

Mr. Holder needs to think before he speaks.

Ed Morrissey had this to say about Holder's statement:

Again, as I wrote last month, such machinations are an insult to American sovereignty.  The Obama administration has a duty to defend American sovereignty and to stop old colonial powers (heh) from imposing their laws on other nations.  That’s the height of arrogance, and if Barack Obama doesn’t want to stand up to it, Congress should demand to know why Obama and Holder are cooperating with an attempt by Spain to impose their laws on American citizens.  It goes against everything for which this nations stands.

He has a point. If Obama acquiesces to the Spainish court's demands, the sovereignty of the US as a nation might as well not even exist.

Dafydd ab Hugh takes it a step further:

If Garzón (Spanish judge) has legal authority to demand we hand over evidence, he also has legal authority to demand we hand over "war criminals," from American military personnel, to John Yoo, to Jay Bybee, to William Haynes, to Douglas Feith, to Alberto Gonzales, to Richard Myers, to Dick Cheney -- even to former President George W. Bush himself.

This would open a can of worms that would put every administration not just Bush's but also Clinton, the first Bush, or, dare I say it, The One himself in danger of getting carted off to only God knows where to stand trial for various "crimes" real or imagined.