Attorney General Holder Sets Precedent Based on Incomplete Information

After announcing Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and five others would be tried in New York City in a civilian court rather than by a military tribunal, Attorney General Holder was asked a question by Senator Graham.

“Can you give me a case in United States history where a[n] enemy combatant caught on a battlefield was tried in civilian court?” Senator Graham asked Holder.

Responding, Holder said, “I don’t know. I’d have to look at that. I think that, you know, the determination I’ve made…” Graham interjected, “We’re making history here, Mr. Attorney General. I’ll answer it for you. The answer is no.”

It is mind-boggling that the Attorney General could make such an earth-shattering, precedent-setting decision, but not know that it was actually precedent-setting.

By his own admission, the Attorney General made an historic determination without understanding that he was setting a precedent and that it had ramifications.

By this decision, the protections afforded US citizens and visitors to the US are now to be extended to enemy combatants, who were never in the US, but who now may remain in the US forever.

Those ramifications aside, the most confounding thing is that the Attorney General couldn’t answer the Senator’s question and acted as though he had never considered such an obvious point.

On what basis did he make his determination?

Alan Gray is the Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of NewsBlaze Daily News and other online newspapers. He prefers to edit, rather than write, but sometimes an issue rears it’s head and makes him start hammering away on the keyboard.

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Alan has been on the internet since it first started. He loves to use his expertise in content and digital marketing to help businesses grow, through managed content services. After living in the United States for 15 years, he is now in South Australia. To learn more about how Alan can help you with content marketing and managed content services, contact him by email.

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Alan is also a techie. His father was a British soldier in the 4th Indian Division in WWII, with Sikhs and Gurkhas. He was a sergeant in signals and after that, he was a printer who typeset magazines and books on his linotype machine. Those skills were passed on to Alan and his brothers, who all worked for Telecom Australia, on more advanced signals (communications). After studying electronics, communications, and computing at college, and building and repairing all kinds of electronics, Alan switched to programming and team building and management.

He has a fascination with shooting video footage and video editing, so watch out if he points his Canon 7d in your direction.