Giuliani Confirms His Loyalty to Darth Vader

On CNN’s State of the Union yesterday, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani made an appearance to talk about the Obama Administration’s recent decision to have five men suspected of plotting the 9/11 attacks tried in civilian court in New York City rather than military tribunals. Attorney General Eric Holder’s announcement has been heavily criticized by Republicans who have reminded him that the nation is at war and that A) terrorists belong in Gitmo, and B) if they now have to be tried in court it should be a military tribunal. It’s as if they’ve forgotten who the American people elected President a year ago. Barack Obama sharply rejected the policies of the Bush Administration last November and voters still wanted him to be in charge. That gave him the mandate to start repairing relations with the rest of the world and dealing with the thorny issue of what to do with the Gitmo detainees. One of them is Khalid Sheik Mohammed, an alleged mass murderer who along with four other Gitmo prisoners have decided to plead guilty. This is perhaps the biggest fish the United States has managed to capture in the so-called “war on terror”.

The Republican reasoning here is unconvincing. In the clip above, Giuliani talks about how much money needs to spent on making sure the trial in New York City is safe. Well, the trial would need security anyway regardless if it’s held in a military court in Cuba or not, and besides, doesn’t he understand that the international goodwill of having civilian courts is worth much more to the United States as a nation than a few million dollars? Another quote from Giuliani (not heard in the clip above) is particularly telling: “To treat the 1993 bombing as if it were just a criminal act – just one of the 1,973 murders in the city of New York that year – was a big mistake. So, basically the Obama administration is repeating the mistake of history… It should’ve been treated as an act of war. And it’s part of a bigger picture here. Iit’s part of Barack Obama deciding that we’re not at war with terrorism any longer. So this is not treated as if it was an act of war which is what it should be treated like.” Here’s a news flash to Rudy Giuliani. Last November, the American people saw for themselves the consequences of the “war on terror” and decided to choose an alternative path. Giuliani is still a follower of dear old Darth Vader, Dick Cheney, and former President George W. Bush, who believed that the “war on terror” could be won by bombing people to submission. Giuliani still thinks that winning the war on terror equals boots on the ground. Referring to the policies of the Clinton Administration, he can’t believe that Obama and his people still think terrorists can be caught with the use of the FBI and international law agencies.

I don’t know what to say. If the GOP and its national security thinkers haven’t learned anything from the early years of this decade and moved on, then why should they be taken seriously?

politik usa politics

Published 2009-11-16 17:30

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