Bill To Cut Off Funding For Kahlid Sheikh Mohammed Trial Finds Bipartisan Support

By ChingYu Wang-Talk Radio News Service

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), along with a bipartisan collection of Senators, announced a bill Tuesday to deny federal funding for the trials of 9/11 conspirators if they take place in a New York City civilian court.

"Why in the world would this country take the people who planned 9/11, put them in the middle of 8 million people in New York City, less than 2 miles from where they attacked the country, and think that's a good thing?" Graham asked.

Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) expressed concern over the heavy financial burden the trials could pose to taxpayers, saying that costs could be in the millions.

"The president's budget that was released yesterday shows how much these decisions will cost American tax payers. In the budget, the Justice Department has given almost $75 million to assist with transferring prosecutions of Guantanamo detainees," said Lieberman.

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) stressed that a military tribunal was the only solution to the problem.

"The fact is, we should not try these people in New York, we shouldn't try them in Illinios, we shouldn't try them in Pheonix. We should try them in a court room, in Guantanamo Bay, and we should try them according to the military commission's act. That's the frost and intent of this legislation," said McCain.

Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.) agreed that it is inappropriate to try the terrorists in major cities due to their war criminal identities.

"I believe these individuals are war criminals," said Lincoln. "Trying these conspirators in civilian court is giving them a public stage to advocate their cause. Carrying out the civilian trials also has the potential, I think, to compromise classified intelligence and put our national security at great risk."

“The Most Dangerous Credit Card in the History of the World”

By Michael Ruhl, University of New Mexico – Talk Radio News Service

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House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio)
Photo by Michael Ruhl

House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) called congressional voting cards “the most dangerous credit card in the history of the world”, because then enable Congress and the president to engage in reckless spending. This was not Boehner's first criticism of Obama, but his statement came on the 101st day of the Obama Administration, a time which Boehner has criticized as being pock marked with excessive borrowing, reckless spending and a massive growth in government.

Boehner said that Democrat’s “record on spending and debt is staggering, but our economy is growing weaker, and it’s not going to get any better by growing the size of the government here in Washington.”

Boehner believes that the Democratically controlled Congress has enabled and contributed to the recklessness, and thinks it is up to the Republicans to put a stop to it. Republicans must be “the party of better solutions” if they are going to stand up to the Democrats in Congress, Boehner said, adding that he hopes Democrats will be committed to a bipartisan policy approach..

Citing the elections of 2008, Boehner said “out brand has been tarnished”, but to help the party serve the American people, Republicans must stand up to the Obama Administration when disagreements arise, and to offer alternative solutions.

Leader Boehner applauded President Obama on his strategy towards Afghanistan and Iraq, but showed concern at Obama’s greater national security policy.

“The big question continues to be: what is the Administration’s overarching plan to fight terrorism? Judging from their recent decision to release 30 terrorist detainees with no plan on where to put them, it continues to beg the question,” referring to Obama’s closure of the Guantanamo Bay detention center without knowing where the detainees will be sent.

Islamist extremism finds strength in a global community

In a full Senate committee hearing on “The Roots of Violent Islamist Extremism and Efforts to Counter it,” witnesses spoke about where violent Islamist extremism begins and what steps the United States should take to maintain strong national security.

Maajid Nawaz, director of the Quilliam Foundation and former member of the Hizb ut-Tahrir (HT), spoke about the ways to differentiate between Islam and Islamists. He said that Islamists believe Islam is a political ideology not a religion, that the religious code must become state law, the members identify with a global Islam community as a political community not a religious community, and that the ideology needs to be represented by a block, an expansionist state that must reach non-Islamist states and liberate them from communism or capitalism.

Nawaz spoke about how as a confused youth, struggling to find his identity he turned to the HT and was given a ideology and was connected to a global community. He said this was a common occurrence among third generation Muslims who have grown up in countries and then struggle to find themselves and could happen in the U.S. The danger with HT and other Islamist groups is that they connect local conflicts to a global level and restructures those conflicts to a fight between truth and falsehood, Islam against everything else, and could lead members to violent extremism, he said.

Peter Mandaville, associate professor of Government and Politics at George Mason University, gave several ways that violent Islamist extremism begins: there is a universal approach to religion which drops cultural values making it portable and easily decontextualized, it also targets those newly introduced to the religion or youths suffering from an identity crisis, and provides a sense of identity and framework which greatly affects “easily influenced young people trying to find their way in the world.” Mandaville said that while HT has ranks of passive members, the worldview it espouses could easily lead members to military action.

Zeyno Baran, senior fellow at the Hudson Institute, cautioned U.S. government agencies to know everything about Islamist organizations before bestowing them legitimacy as “moderate” Muslims. FBI agents have been trained by the Council on American-Islamic Relations, which was an organization connected with Islamist extreme organizations and is completely self-defeating, she said. Baran urged the United States to engage in countering Islamist ideology from spreading in the United States.