Stardate 20011113.2204 (On Screen): As predicted by
John Dean, President Bush has decided that should we capture any terrorists, then he will make a decision on a case-by-case basis whether they should be tried in front of military tribunals instead of in civilian courts. This is quite unusual but not unprecedented, and I think it's a good thing (for reasons that Dean describes quite lucidly). The report states that it
might "alienate European allies who oppose the U.S. death penalty and favor international courts." It's hard to see how even the Europeans could oppose the death penalty for bin Laden at this point, but stranger things have happened. Regardless, the simple fact is that in this particular case the voters of the United States don't give a tinker's damn what Europeans think about the death penalty. If bin Laden is captured, he'll be tried in front of a military tribunal and if found guilty he'll be condemned to death. (If the Europeans don't like it, we'll lend them a hanky to cry into. But I suspect that any protests in this case will be muted.)
(discussion in progress)
