To understand why President Obama’s Attorney General Eric Holder chose to try five of the worst terrorists in New York City, putting the brakes on their military tribunal process in which they already plead guilty, all you need to know is where he came from.

That, plus the sensationalism of having the opportunity to put the previous administration on trial is a ‘crisis’ too good to pass up. Especially after Obama said on this matter, that he was going to look forward and not backward.

Holder said he was going to speed up justice for these detainees. He didn’t say it was his friends in the al-Qaeda bar that caused the trial delays he now criticizes.

Holder is a partner in a law firm, Covington & Burling, which has been representing 18 detainees at the Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba. You may have seen a picture of one of the other lawyers at C & B, David Remes. A natural defense attorney for the panty bomber don’t you think?

Where are the conflict of interest concerns? Not to mention the increased security risk the administration is putting upon New Yorkers. Not to mention the world stage that this dog squeeze will be put on, using their new found freedom to resume their jihad in a media that will be hanging on their every word.

The motivation is purely political. Obama ran on closing Club Gitmo without a plan on how he was going to do it. To fulfill this promise, who better to do that than Eric Holder, a lawyer in a law firm with a track record of attempting to criminalize the prosecution of the war by the Bush administration. He and Holder both enhanced these terrorists’ defense when they said that they deserve the same protection of our judicial system and Constitution afforded to U.S. citizens. They enhance their defense when they both said publicly that these enemy combatants were tortured. And in a civilian criminal trial, they enhanced their defense because they were not Mirandized.

Remember this. They all had already plead guilty in the military tribunal court system. Rather than let that play out, Holder resurrected it in favor of a show trial.  Reckless behavior for a Commander in Chief don’t you think?

Populating the Justice Department with terrorist defense lawyers is one thing. But what about people with direct ties to terrorists and loony radical groups?

Having heard an earful from New Yorkers, including Mayor Bloomberg and the Democratic Senators, Obama is looking for a way to back peddle, a way to save face. The only right thing to do here is to leave it all under the purview of the military court system and to send the panty bomber to Club Gitmo to face his fate as well. Watching this dance between the American people and his far-left base will be a show in and of itself. Not one I’ll take any enjoyment in seeing.

The President has not shown himself to be on the side of the American people when it comes to the war on terror. If Americans are left with no other alternative than the ballot box to make a correction, I’m confident that they will.

Links:

• Covington & Burling LLP | News & Events | Eric Holder Sworn in as Attorney General
• About (Saving) Face – Bill Burck & Dana Perino – National Review Online
• Justice Delayed – Andrew C. McCarthy – National Review Online
• American Thinker Blog: Questions raised about Holder appointees who defended GItmo prisoners
• Man Attempts to Set Off Explosives on Detroit-Bound Airplane