Brig. Gen. Mark Martins, lead prosecutor in 9/11 case, in fight of his career (KSM military trial)
When the biggest terrorism trial in U.S. history resumes this weekend at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, Khalid Sheik Mohammed will retake his place at the defense table, the alpha dog among the five defendants accused of orchestrating the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
Across the courtroom from Mohammed, facing him for the first time, will stand the tall, one-star general the Pentagon has entrusted with not only securing a death penalty conviction but also convincing a skeptical world that a military commission can deliver a fair trial.
In 2009, the Obama administration, working with Congress, modified military commissions in an effort to offer more due process to defendants. But more than a decade after the system was originally set up under George W. Bush, much of the human rights community continues to lambaste it as a sham one that should not supplant federal criminal trials for terrorism suspects.
Now Army Brig. Gen. Mark Martins, who will be the lead trial prosecutor in the Sept. 11 case, wants to bolster support for the modified process, and hes in the fight of his career.
full: http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/brig-gen-mark-martins-lead-prosecutor-in-911-case-in-fight-of-his-career/2012/05/04/gIQAtNc50T_singlePage.html
Politicalboi
(15,189 posts)And WE the people don't get to see squat. Just like the Pentagon "attack". But some are happy with that. No need to question our government. Where, and what evidence do they have? And how do these "terrorist" make the Pentagon stand down? Amazing powers these "terrorist" have. LOL! So it's acceptable to most that 19 "terrorist" in a cave were able to topple the US for hours while the USSR couldn't do it for 30 years. Flying over military bases, instead of taking off from NY, I guess makes more sense somehow. I mean we were "told" they were chummy with pilots, they were "pilots" themselves, so they probably could have smuggled anything on board, at any airport. Amazing. I'm sorry, but it's laughable and unbelievable to me. More innocent men convicted of crimes they could never have committed. I mean if Osama bin Laden was guilty of 9/11, why wasn't it listed along with his other "crimes"?
And if the US is and was that weak, we have been spending a shit load of money for NOTHING.
leveymg
(36,418 posts)After what the CIA did to him, KSM is not so much an "alpha dog" as a beast that's been repeatedly kicked in the head and partially drowned 93 times. He's brain damaged. A hard drive that's been smashed with a hammer. Scrambled eggs.
Before: After:
dballance
(5,756 posts)Last edited Sat May 5, 2012, 04:15 AM - Edit history (1)
He leans left. Getting to know him I know there are some very fine people in the military justice system. I would expect they are the overwhelming majority. They have the honor and integrity we would all like to imagine they have. Yes - picture Tom Cruise in "A Few Good Men."
I stayed with my friend and him so I could go to the Stewart/Colbert Rally. He didn't go with us and I think that was the right decision. As someone who needs to be seen as an impartial jurist it could have become an issue in court if some attorney saw a picture of him at the rally and brought it in to impugn his integrity.
So I wish General Martins all the luck he will need to fight the establishment that is doing it's best to just try to sweep all that stuff under the rug and make it go away. Sad thing is, that since we have such short attention spans as a people and now we have the general election to dominate the news cycles they will probably get away with it.