AMERICA'S IMAGE & THE ATTORNEY GENERAL.

Attorney General Eric Holder has done it again. Shocking news after shocking news; when will it all end? Firstly, it was the trial of CIA operatives for breaking interrogative rules, in their duty in dealing with terrorist detainees; and secondly, on Friday 13th, 2009, it was the extraordinary announcement of the trial of the "alleged 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four other so-called high-value detainees accused of plotting the attacks" in a federal court in New York City.

He has also made it a point to grab the news headlines, whenever President Obama was off on doing something else; like going on vacation on Martha's Vineyard island in Massachusetts, or making a visit to Asia, which was not even over yet. It was also so obvious that he would deliberately make those announcements to infuriate a section of the public and, at the same time, to please his liberal friends, who had the assumption that he was the one to clean up America's image abroad after the "damage" caused by the Bush administration to tarnish that image.

He perfectly knew that the news of the trials in New York, would be met with people's input of strong opposition from all quarters; it would be looked on as a purely publicity stunt by his department, and that the political aspect of it would be felt nationwide, spawning an unnecessary debate at a time, when politicians and simple folk alike were busy determining to sort out and to understand one of the most important and complicated issues in recent years, a health care legislation, that would affect almost everybody's life in the country. It has already consumed most of their time, and depleted most of their energies; and most (people) were just endeavoring to recover from its unsavory effects.

He was also aware of his European friends, whom he has always sought to impress, to be paying attention to his surely and carefully planned strides of making himself famous, in tackling "the image problem" that America has in their own minds.

However, it was true that America's image should be safeguarded and protected; and that could be done in several ways; yet, putting the people who were caught as "soldiers" in the battlefield, and having a civil court to deal with them was not one of those ways. They were war criminals and therefore they should be tried in military courts under different sets of rules. In other words, if they could be court-martialled (or court marshalled), then there should be no need to showcase them in any civilian jurisdiction that would give them privileges; particularly, the constitutional rights; that they were not entitled to and therefore should not ever have.

The whole idea was a bad one; and it would throw New York City back into the turmoil that it was in after the two World Trade Center towers came tumbling down. Besides, it would cause families, policemen and women, firefighters, students, school children, etc., etc., to recall the nightmares that they went through during those horrible times. It would remind them of the aggravation, the tantrum they felt; and of the despicable feeling of re-living the days that completely shattered their lives. All that would be undeservedly brutal on them.

Should I go on?

Well, the Attorney General, Mr. Eric Holder, has done it again; and on this occasion he was allowing terrorists to trample New York City underfoot; he was bringing an unwanted circus into town; but somebody should, please, stop him, or he would tarnish America's image even more.

Over to you, Mayor Bloomberg.