Trying 9/11 mastermind in NYC will prove justice system's strength

In the past few weeks we have all been listening to critics complain about Attorney General Eric Holder's decision to bring self-proclaimed 9/11 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed and four other co-conspirators to New York to face a civilian court. The decision has ignited a firestorm of criticism about the threat it poses to New York City and about the inability to find an impartial jury, which has flooded the news waves and created hysteria over the government's decision to hold these men's trials blocks away from where the 2,606 people perished at the World Trade Centers. It is time that we take a step back and look at why holding a civilian trial in New York City, might not be such a bad idea after all.

Should we really believe that bringing the trials to New York City would put residents at risk for a terrorist attack? By bringing these criminals to justice in New York is it really plausible to believe that terrorists around the world will look at this and decide, "lets attack New York for murdering our martyrs!" Well, I've got news for those people; New York City is already number one on most terrorist's lists as a target. It was back in 2001 and it still is today. In a city with an estimated 8.3 million people, symbolizes our national strength economically and architecturally, why should bringing these men to this city change a thing? It is easy to assume that international and maybe even home-grown terrorists continue to make plots against the people of New York City, regardless of bringing these trials to the city or not. Mayor Michael Bloomberg says that his safety personnel as well as the police and fire companies are as ready as ever for any attack, and as ready as ever to bring these men to justice.

So, we have the issue of safety out of the way. Now how about the issue of the civilian trial? Many critics of Attorney General Holder's decision may lead to a jury finding the defendant not guilty. Lets look at the 1995 Oklahoma City Bombings. After Timothy McVeigh's bombs killed many Americans as well as a group of young children, he was tried in a civilian court, found guilty and put to justice. The event was seen as a sign of the strength of the United States' justice system. A disastrous act committed against civilians deserves to be tried and evaluated by the civilians. That is a right and a privilege of United States' citizens, which is the envy of many nations in the world. As Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) said, "What we're saying to the world is the U.S. acts out of strength not out of fear." He went on to say, "If somebody murders Americans ... they ought to be prosecuted in America and hopefully convicted in America." Senator Leahy feels that enough evidence has been collected to still find the defendants guilty even without the evidence collected while they were water-boarded in 2003.

The third worry is that finding an impartial jury will be impossible. The reality of the matter is that it will be difficult to find people who have not been deeply affected by the events of 9/11. That said, the same was the case in the Oklahoma City Bombing trial and will be the case when the men who have been charged with Jasper Howard's murder face a trial with a jury comprised of Connecticut residents. We must have faith in our justice system that we have trusted to make the tough decisions in the past and that we will rely on to make the same sorts of decisions in the future.

It is true that our justice system isn't perfect. But what system is? It is easy to say that we have the best system in the world, so let's use it. These men attacked our people, our ideologies and our freedoms. In the shadow of their destruction, they will realize that a revived nation, a stronger city will use the people, the ideologies, and the freedoms granted to them, which these terrorists tried to destroy, to bring these men to justice. Sending this trial to a military tribunal would not only undermine our justice system but it would rob us of the opportunity to send a message to Americans and to other nations that our justice system - and for that matter, America - is stronger than ever before.