Who Won the Day?

Charles Johnson on Security and Saudi 'Art Therapy'

Heather Horn 14 Views Dec 29, 2009

News of former Guantanamo detainees' involvement in the Flight 253 terror plot set off a flurry of partisan bickering today, with each side attempting to hold the other responsible. In the midst of the political blame game, conservative Charles Johnson, who recently defected from "the American right wing," took a moment to connect two debates: the furor over the detainees being released to Saudi Arabia for manifestly ineffective "art therapy," and earlier discussions about the wisdom of civilian trials for terrorists. Faced with the renewed question of what to do with such detainees, Johnson suggests the following:

I’ve been undecided on the issue of trying Gitmo detainees for a long time — but I'm now in favor of trying the Gitmo detainees in civilian court, throwing the book at them, and locking them up after they've been given due process, and convicted, and no one can complain any more.

And if they aren't convicted, it's because we didn't have enough evidence to convict them.

I have a lot more faith in the American criminal justice system than I do in Saudi Arabia's "art therapy" program.

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Heather Horn

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Topics: National Security

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