Making a Mockery of the 9/11 Trials

The government has demanded that any discussion of torture and detainee mistreatment be prohibited by the judge in the military trial of five men accused of facilitating the 9/11 attacks. The government has even gone so far as to demand that there must be “a 40-second delay in the audio feed the government makes available to the public, media, and representatives of non-governmental organizations who observe the tribunal,” in order to “permit a courtroom security official to cut off the audio feed whenever the defendants describe their detention and interrogation in US custody.”

This absurdity makes clear the reasons for the government’s insistence that torture not be talked about, but also the reasons for the military tribunals themselves, as opposed to civilian trials. Col. Morris Davis, who was the chief prosecutor for the military commissions at Guantanamo before he resigned in 2007, explains:

[T]he reason the apologists want a second-rate military commission option is because of what we did to the detainees, not because of what the detainees did to us. This is not about the exigencies of the battlefield and the problems our soldiers face trying to fight a war; this is about torture, coercion, rendition and a decade or more in confinement without an opportunity to confront the evidence — abuses that would have us up in arms if done to an American citizen by some other country — that make the tarnished military commissions uniquely suited to try and accommodate the small category of cases where we crossed over to the dark side.

In prosecuting individuals for heinous crimes, we are desperately trying to cover up our own.

(h/t to Andy Worthington)

12 thoughts on “Making a Mockery of the 9/11 Trials”

  1. John repeats the company line "This absurdity makes clear the reasons for the government’s insistence that torture not be talked about, but also the reasons for the military tribunals themselves"

    The above is the CHARITABLE explanation…. Of course, wouldn't be government complicity…….. No, everyone knows the gov would NEVER use a false flag attack….. to foment a war…… MMMmm

  2. Mockery indeed. Next the government will say there is intelligence that Janet Jackson might be in the building.

  3. John, Why do you say, "we are desperately trying to cover up our own” crimes? I’m not. Are you?

    1. John is referring to crimes of the state.

      Since you´ve brought up the subject – don´t you think that the citizens of a democracy should take credit for the ongoing and increasing illegal actions of its government? When do you separate the people from illegal and immoral actions of their government? Americans held the German people responsible for its government´s war crimes after WW-II and those people were under the total rule of a brutal dictatorship, not a democracy. According to our previous judgments on similar cases of similar crimes we do indeed have blood on our hands, David. Shouldn´t we be judged as we have judged others.

  4. Funny how Janet Jackson get into a comment section and cover up is next comments body.

    1. The point of invoking Janet Jackson is that the gov't will use any excuse to censor evidence of its own crimes.

  5. We need to rip this "government" a New One. Instead of them leading us around like children, we should be acting in a proactive manner to have them Prosecuted for War crimes. Other countries have already begun the process and some now legally view Bush and Cheney as war criminals. It is time to have that process begin here! And to include Obama! He could of ended the wars shortly after he took office, but did not. He could of declared the use of uranium dirty munitions as being unacceptable, but he did not. We need to hold these leaders accountable for their actions, otherwise we have tyranny.

    1. Please provide a list of countries that " . . . legally view Bush and Cheney as war criminals. . . "and references to information regarding " . . . Other countries have already begun the process
      to have them Prosecuted for War crimes . . . ". Thank You

      1. It was recently in the news.

        Bush et al were found guilty of war crimes by a tribunal in Malaysia.

        Don't you use google?

  6. Also, if you are near NYC on the May 15th, Obama will be speaking at Barnard College graduation and it will be an excellent opportunity to show the country and the world that most Americans are against the War and want it to end. We just can let Obama walk in and not hear anti-war protest. It will be highly covered by the US and world media!

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