Israeli Soldier Returns Home

After more than five years in Hamas captivity, Israeli soldier Gilad Schalit arrived home Tuesday. 

In a prisoner swap between Israel and Hamas, Schalit was exchanged for 1,027 Palestinian prisoners.

The swap will be performed in a series of delicate stages. 477 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons were released Tuesday morning and an additional 550 prisoners will be released in two months.

Schalit, 25, was moved from Gaza into Egypt where Israeli medical personnel examined him.

Subsequently, Schalit was taken to a military base in Tel Nof, Israel where he was greeted by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and embraced by his mother, father, grandfather, sister and brother.

After being welcomed home by more than 200 supporters and activists in his doorway, Schalit entered his home in Mitzpe Hila, a town in Northern Israel near the Lebanese border.

Medical examinations showed that Schalit was malnourished, pale and limping but otherwise in reasonable health. His mental health is still unknown.

Lieberman Aims To Strip American-Born Terrorists Of Their Citizenship

Just days after a Pakistani-American named Faisal Shazhad was arrested for allegedly attempting to detonate a car bomb in New York’s Times Square, Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) unveiled legislation aimed at preventing future American-born terrorists from traveling out of the country with the intent to return and wage attacks on U.S. soil.

The Terrorist Expatriation Act would update an existing federal law that strips U.S. citizens of their citizenship if they voluntarily perform one of several acts “with the intention of relinquishing United States nationality.” If adopted, the new law would authorize the State Department to “revoke the citizenship of a U.S. national who provides material support or resources to a Foreign Terrorist Organization, as designated by the Secretary of State, or who engages in or supports hostilities against the United States or its allies,” according to a summary of the bill released by Lieberman’s office.

“This proposal updates the existing law to include American citizens who are found to have joined and worked with a foreign terrorist organization whose aim is to attack and kill Americans,” said Lieberman to reporters. “Those who join such groups join our enemy and should be deprived of rights and privileges of U.S. citizenship and the ability to use their American passports as tools of terror.”

According to reports, Shazhad, who moved to the U.S. when he was 18 and became a citizen last year, has confessed to traveling to Pakistan for a period of several months last year, during which time he attending a terrorist training camp affiliated with the Taliban. He then used his passport to return to the U.S., and shortly thereafter purchased a vehicle along with a series of bomb-making materials, presumably with the intent of blowing up the vehicle. The SUV he purchased was found late Saturday night, rigged with explosives in the middle of Times Square. Shazhad nearly escaped, but was captured Monday night after he had boarded a plane that was 30 minutes from taking off to Dubai.

Though Lieberman said he was prompted to move on the bill by Shazhad's failed attack as well as the failed airline attack on Christmas Day, in which a Nigerian man aboard a flight headed for Detroit attempted to detonate an explosive he had hidden in his pants during the plane's descent, the Senator said the new law would not apply to terror suspects like Shazhad because he was captured on U.S. soil.

Durbin: Try Terrorists Through Federal Court, Not Military Commission

By Sam Wechsler - Talk Radio News Service

Suspected terrorists must be prosecuted through federal civilian courts and not military commissions, said Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill) at a Terrorism and Homeland Security Subcommittee hearing Tuesday.

Senator Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) argued that unforseen national security risks arise when terrorists are tried in federal civilian courts. He explained how during the prosecution of Ramsey Yusef, who was involved in plotting the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, a seemingly innocent piece of testimony concerning the delivery of a cell phone battery allowed at-large terrorists to discover that a means of communication had been compromised.

According to Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), the only reason that the security risk occurred during Yusef’s trial was because prosecutors failed to employ the Classified Information Procedures Act (CIPA). Durbin says the government prosectors bypassed the use of CIPA so as to not release the names of several unindicted co-conspirators. Durbin added that he believes the government has learned from its mistakes.

“To argue that American courts cannot prosecute terrorists? Look at the facts. We’ve not only done it in the past, we’re doing it now,” said Durbin. He explained that 145 terrorists were convicted and sentenced in federal courts from September 11, 2001 through the end of 2007. Jeh C. Johnson, General Counsel for the Department of Defense, said that only three terrorists have been convicted through military commissions since 9/11.

Durbin also made his case for closing down the U.S. detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, saying that no prisoner has ever escaped from a federal super maximum security facility.

“If we don’t bring suspected terrorists to this country to be prosecuted and detained, it’s almost impossible to close Guantanamo,” he said.

Rep. Schiff Introduces New Way To Try Terrorists

By Aaron Richardson

Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Ca) testified Wednesday at a hearing surrounding the legal issues of the military commissions system, stating that there is a better way to prosecute the detainees at Guantanamo Bay.

“Some call for the creation of a National Security Court to try the detainees and others have advocated all the detainees go into federal criminal courts. Earlier this year I introduced the HR 1315 “The Terrorist Detainees Procedures Act of 2009” The legislation would make use of the military courts-martial and would prosecute the detainees as unlawful combatants.” said Schiff.

Schiff also testified how he felt about the way the current system that is in place.

“I believe the commissions system has proved so flawed and the due process proved inadequate and discredited that in the case of the detainees at Guantanamo should be completely dropped," Schiff said.

According to a statement released by Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Tx) the issue is not the way in which the detainees are being prosecuted, but the rights they may receive as possible terrorists.

“Now President Obama wants to give known terrorists the constitutional rights of citizens on trial in the U.S. Once terrorists are given additional rights, such as the right to remain silent, of course they do just that. The result is no interrogations, no information and possibly more attacks.”

Petraeus: Beating Terrorists Requires More Than Counterterrorist Operations

By Celia Canon- Talk Radio News Service

General David Petraeus, Commander of the United States Central Command, warned that military missions against terrorist groups are comprehensive and require more than force.

 “Countering terrorism requires more than counter-terrorist operations,” said Petraeus today in a speech to the Center of a New American Security.  The General went on to discuss the implications of shifting military attention from Iraq to Afghanistan and Pakistan and how the U.S.’ experience in Iraq should optimize the efficiency of military operations in other countries.

“As we turn and shift our focus to Afghanistan and Pakistan it is very important to reflect on what we learned from Iraq and to remember that you have to apply what was learned there with a very nuanced understanding...of local circumstances,” said Petraeus.

Petraeus was one of the leading figures during the 2007 surge of U.S. troops in Iraq, a move that increased U.S. military capability in the Middle East by more than 20,000 soldiers and additional brigades. The surge was instrumental in the counterinsurgency mission that would help secure the region. Petraeus completed his work in Iraq by rebuilding the Iraqi army. 

Petraeus highlighted the success of the U.S. army in improving security conditions, stating “We’ve gone from a situation in which June of 2006 or 2007 saw 160 attacks per day on average. in Iraq it is now between 10 and 15 attacks per day and has been that way for about 6 months now; in fact in the low end of that in recent weeks.”

However, Petraeus did concede that last month was an exception. There were over 400 attacks in May, the highest in the country’s post-invasion history.

The General touched upon the peacekeeping role that the army has recently acquired with the Iraq mission and named the safety of the civilian population as a major priority.

“The overriding mission of a military force in counterinsurgency has to be to secure the people and...be seen as securing and serving them. This is hugely important,” said Petraeus.

Petraeus explained that once security has been established throughout the country, the U.S. would not be able to leave Afghanistan until they have assured that the established government follows a peace-ensuring criteria.