The New York City Police commissioner is raising questions about the money and the manpower needed to keep the city safe during trials for alleged 9/11 terrorists. This as Attorney General Eric Holder is defending his decision to try them in New York.
It was subtle, but worrisome. Commissioner Ray Kelly voicing concern about manpower cuts affecting security decisions during the trial of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four terror accomplices.
“We obviously have to think about it. We are down over 5,000 police officers from where we were in 2001, so we have to take a very hard look at the resources that will be utilized for an operation like this,” Kelly said.
Prodded by Sen. Charles Schumer, Holder agreed to have the federal government pick up about $75 million of the tab, money that will help turn lower Manhattan into a fortress once the al Qaeda men arrive here.
“We’ll have a significant number of police officers on the ground. We’ll have equipment sensors; we’ll have our Skywatch deployed,” Kelly said.
The decision to bring Mohammed and the other terror plotters here has Team Obama and the attorney general playing defense. Critics believe the trial could make New York and even bigger target and that Mohammed will use the court proceedings as a stage for his anti-American rhetoric.
“Does that approach not reward terrorists with benefits like potentially providing them access to sensitive information and providing them a platform for propaganda?” Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky asked.
Holder said he’s not worried.
“We need not cower in the face of this enemy. Our institutions are strong. Our infrastructure is sturdy. Our resolve is firm and our people are ready,” Holder said.
Schumer said he’s confident justice will be done.
“I’ve asked Eric Holder if he sees any legal barriers that some defense lawyer could throw in the way of instituting capital punishment and for these terrorists and he said no,” Schumer said.
However, Republican Congressman Peter King reiterated his stance that a move like this is only asking for trouble.
“The president’s decision to bring detainees from Guantanamo to the United States for trial is one of the most dangerous decisions any president has ever made. The president is unilaterally ending the war against terrorism and returning us to a pre-Sept. 11 law enforcement regime,” King said.
King and other House Republicans are trying to force a vote on the “Keep Terrorists out of America Act.”
It forces the president to certify that any detainee brought here will not ever be released into the country.
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Why oh why is the US government paying $75,000,000.00 just to have the trial in NYC, and to make KSM into a movie star? Just do it in Guantanamo, and give me 50% of the savings. (Ya know what, I might even vote for you in the next election!)
The decision to conduct a jury trial for an enemy combattant is unprecedented.
Representative King makes sense. (Schumer, Blumberg and–last but not least Barack Obama– do not make sense.)
Steps should be taken to impeach Obama for putting our country at risk.
Citizens should unite against the left-wing extremism of the Democrat party which is destroying our country by undermining security. May God save America!
What’s another $75,000,000 in comparison to the national deficit that already exists. Just put the charge on VISA and when the bill comes at the end of the month and there is no money to pay-raise taxes.