by Phyllis Schlafly
President Obama’s strange decision to move the trial of the terrorist who masterminded the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Towers to a civilian court in New York City is vigorously opposed by most Americans. This terrorist ought to be tried in a military court as an “enemy combatant,” which he surely is. A trial in New York City will be very expensive, cause enormous security problems, and give the terrorist the opportunity to use the trial as a platform to attack the United States. The government will be required to turn over to this enemy terrorist vast amounts of U.S. intelligence and information that will endanger our national security.
President Obama has now doubled this mistake by deciding that the “Underwear Bomber,” Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, who tried to blow up a Northwest Airlines plane, with about 300 passengers on board, over Detroit on Christmas Day, will also be tried by a civilian court. Umar ought to be treated like an enemy combatant, which he surely is.
As soon as Obama made that decision, Umar immediately got himself “lawyered up” (that’s legal slang for getting a good criminal lawyer). Umar right away claimed his Miranda rights, which means he doesn’t have to talk any more, and our government will not be able to get him to reveal valuable information. We need to know who else was part of this very sophisticated plot to kill hundreds of people.
We do learn one good lesson from the Underwear Bomber. President Obama had told us that the”root cause” of terrorism is “crushing poverty.” That is not true; the Underwear Bomber dispelled the myth that poverty causes terrorism. His father is the richest man in Nigeria. Umar led a privileged life with an expensive education in England, lived in a $4 million home in London, and traveled to the United States whenever he wanted to.
The Moral Liberal contributing editor Phyllis Schlafly is founder and president of Eagle Forum, a syndicated columnist, bestselling author and radio show host.
Used with the permission of Eagle Forum.
