the perverse message that decision [to try Khalid Sheik Mohammed in a civilian court --ed] will send to terrorists all over this dangerous world is this: If you kill civilians on American soil you will have greater protections than if you attack our military overseas.
So it now becomes more attractive for our enemies to commit acts of terrorism against women and children than to fight like men.
"A fundamental purpose of rules such as the Geneva Conventions is to give those at war an incentive for more civilized behavior—and not targeting civilians is arguably the most sacred of these principles," says William Burck, a former federal prosecutor and Bush White House lawyer who dealt with national security issues. "It demolishes this principle to give Khalid Sheikh Mohammed even more legal protections than the Geneva Conventions provide a uniformed soldier fighting in a recognized war zone."
That's bitterly ironic given the accusation during the Bush years that Bush didn't respect the conventions.
I repeat: this is a wicked, wicked, wicked decision.
