Six months before election, Obama begins the trials of KSM and the Gitmo Five

When Obama became President, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the mastermind of 9/11, had been captured and detained for many years (since 2003). KSM, along with 4 other conspirators, had been charged with war crimes and murder in 2008 by an American military commission and each faces the possible death penalty. (Military Trial of the "Gitmo Five" Underway at Guantanamo Bay).

But, the newly elected President Obama did not want to rush to judgement. Instead, he delayed the proceedings for more than 3 years.  It wasn't until last week, May 5th, that the defendants were arraigned before a military tribunal and presented with an 87 page indictment.  Their next court appearance is scheduled for June 12th.

So, we must ask:

Why is Obama trying these terrorists now?

It is our opinion that Mr. Obama decided to use these prisoners as last resort "ace in the hole" to help him earn a second re-election term. If they were tried, convicted, and sentenced early in his Presidency, then much of the credit would have been given to the Bush Administration, and Obama would have received little.

Since Mr. Obama is very sympathetic to the Muslim cause, he and the Justice Department accused the US interrogators of torturing (by waterboarding) these individuals. Further, to keep his 2008 promise, he ordered Guantanamo Bay to be closed in January 2009 (Timeline: How Obama Compares to Bush on Torture, Surveillance and Detention). Without Guantanamo, the trial would have to take place in some other location. This had the effect of delaying the trial for a year or so. To help this along, Attorney General Eric Holder decided in November 2009 to move the trials to a New York City civilian courtroom. Thus, any future delay would be viewed as an obstruction of the American public rather than the Obama Administration. As the Obama team expected, New Yorkers were very vocal in resisting the move of the Gitmo terrorists and petitioned the Justice Department to find another location. This action pushed the trial off for another year because Holder refused to make a decision. Finally, in early 2011, two things happened. First, Obama reversed his decision to close Guantanamo in March; and then, Holder announced that he would allow military prosecutors to file the war-crime charges against the 5 terrorists in April 2011 (In a Reversal, Military Trials for 9/11 Cases).

Now that the stage was set, the Obama Administration could safely decide whether begin the trial proceedings in early 2012, or to continue to delay it.

If the economy was doing well, and the Obama re-election appeared to be assured, then we believe that the trials would continue to be delayed.

However, the 2012 Presidential election is not guaranteed for President Obama. So, he is using the:

Try the Terrorist Stunt

to demonstrate his commitment to the country, hoping to arouse patriotic support for his decisive actions, thereby winning over a number of American voters.

Will this work in his favor? We believe it is too late for this stunt to work. Trying the terrorists now only emphasizes the President's reluctance, and his inaction is already engrained in the voting public's mind.