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What to do with terrorists

Reader comment on item: Don't Put Terrorists on Trial

Submitted by Sigmund Derman (United States), Jul 14, 2014 at 09:30

It is not clear to me what you are actually proposing. I heartily agree that the Obama administration is failing to appreciate the full significance and enormity of the Islamist threat to this country and to the civilized world. But I wonder about how we might apply the idea of "the U.S. response to terrorist attacks on Americans citizens should be immediate and lethal" to an indvididual apprehended not in the act of terrorism itself but as the result of a lengthy chain of investigative work, similar to what is done to investigate a crime, about a year and one half after the attack was committed. Even immediately after a battle we don't do as ISIS does, chop off the heads of the opposing soldiers we have captured even though many of them probably have killed more Americans than were killed in Benghazi. We hold them as prisoners of war. We didn't do summary executions in WWI, WWII, Vietnam, Korea or any war that I know of (at least not as a policy---I am sure that summary executions occur from time to time in virtually all wars but they are generally against military policy). So it's not going to be "lethal", at least not if we have already captured him. It's going to be military imprisonment. That's OK with me and then the military justice system could sentence the individual to death. But the death sentence would be far from "immediate" and far from certain. How many Guantanamo prisoners were actually sentenced to death under the Bush administration? Were there any?

Especially now that we have him in custody, we can't just put a bullet in his head. I think we have to carry on with the trial because the process is started. If we are going to do something like that we can't really capture the individual at all. I think it would have to be done by a sniper or a drone. Perhaps that's what you are proposing for the future. That might work under the theory that this is a continuous war and a global battlefield in which there are no beginnings or ends to the battle. I personally would not have a great deal of trouble with that if legal experts OK'ed it. Interestingly, the Obama administration is actually doing that as well, including to American citizens. Why this individual was captured rather than killed I do not know. Perhaps someone thought that the intelligence to be garnered might be worth it. It's hard for me to second guess because I do not have information on what can be gained by interrogating him. I hope the whole process is worthwhile.

Submitting....

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Daniel Pipes replies:

I am saying the Benghazi mission should have been treated as a battlefield, not a crime scene, and the attackers attacked in turn.

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Reader comments (26) on this item

Title Commenter Date Thread
100% correct [59 words]
w/response from Daniel Pipes
JeffJul 16, 2014 13:25216128
Why this soft treatment? Possibly psychology & the need to move on to other issues [79 words]
w/response from Daniel Pipes
PezDispenserJul 15, 2014 18:10216096
That only works for people who are omniscient [141 words]
w/response from Daniel Pipes
Stephen ConnorJul 15, 2014 17:46216095
1No Peace for Justice not Served [120 words]M. ToveyJul 15, 2014 15:15216093
Certainty of our Cause [306 words]David SmithJul 15, 2014 11:37216084
Your Views are Typically An Israeli Ones! [122 words]
w/response from Daniel Pipes
WilsonJul 15, 2014 04:16216074
Unmilitary responses [90 words]Paul WinterJul 14, 2014 22:49216069
Terrorism [12 words]Robert MarguliesJul 14, 2014 17:42216062
Appropriate Hearing before a Forum of the United States of Foreign Terrorits [369 words]LudvikusJul 14, 2014 14:29216054
Due Process [56 words]William LeeJul 14, 2014 14:02216051
The limits of retribution [150 words]
w/response from Daniel Pipes
GreggJul 14, 2014 13:37216048
Do Not Accuse Israel of that Which the Terrorists Want - Sympathy for Terrorism [265 words]M. ToveyJul 16, 2014 14:14216048
query [108 words]greggJul 16, 2014 16:47216048
Hm.. interesting [36 words]JohnJul 17, 2014 01:06216048
Show of force [132 words]larryBJul 26, 2014 18:20216048
1Leopards don't change their spots [267 words]Jules PostenJul 14, 2014 11:27216041
2Retribution [11 words]SvenJul 14, 2014 11:27216040
1"certain and nasty" [107 words]
w/response from Daniel Pipes
Ron MJul 14, 2014 10:47216038
Three Points [108 words]A.T. HalmayJul 14, 2014 10:33216037
Khatala should beat the rap [49 words]Wallace SchwamJul 14, 2014 10:30216036
What to do with terrorists [444 words]
w/response from Daniel Pipes
Sigmund DermanJul 14, 2014 09:30216032
Criminality vs war [117 words]Sigmund DermanJul 18, 2014 17:28216032
2Good luck with that! [97 words]Abu NudnikJul 14, 2014 09:22216031
The european angle [121 words]Lars NielsenJul 14, 2014 08:01216026
1Don't put Terrorists on Trial. [212 words]Emanuel van den BemdJul 14, 2014 07:30216022
Stop all crimes and all wars [114 words]Michael JacobsJul 14, 2014 07:17216021

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