U.S. split over decision to put Sep 11 suspects on trial

The Obama administration's decision to prosecute the September 11 suspects in federal court has been applauded and criticized.

It represents an important step forward for justice, Human Rights Watch said.

Attorney General Eric Holder announced that five of the suspects facing pending military commission charges at Guantanamo would be transferred for federal trial in the United States.

"The Obama administration recognized that a trial of this historic importance belongs in a fair and time-tested justice system," said Joanne Mariner, Terrorism and Counterterrorism Program director at Human Rights Watch. "The military commissions at Guantanamo are simply not up to the task."

The trial will be held at a federal court in New York City, which bore the brunt of the September 11 2001 attacks. Many critics have pointed out the trial will signal a return to New York for al-Qaeda.

"What the Obama administration is telling us loud and clear is that the war on terror is over, from their point of view. We are no longer going to treat these people as if this was an act of war," Rudy Giuliani, the Mayor of New York at the time of the attacks said Sunday.

"In this particular case, we are reaching out to give terrorists a legal benefit that is unnecessary. In fact, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, when he was first arrested asked to be brought to New York. I did not think we were in the business of granting the requests of terrorists," Guiliania, who believes the men should be tried in military tribunals, said.

Current Mayor Michael Bloomber disagrees, and says the decision to move the trial to a federal court, in New York, is "fitting."

Unlike the deeply flawed military commission proceedings, the federal civilian courts can give the defendants a fair and credible trial, one that will be recognized as such internationally, HRW said in a statement. Their use will also send a clear message that terrorists are criminals rather than soldiers in an armed conflict.

Holder has said he believes the men will be convicted, and if so will face the death penalty. A trial by military tribunal may well achieve the same result, but its legitimacy would be questioned.

Human Rights Watch said the importance of the 9/11 trial to America's reputation in the fight against terrorism cannot be overestimated. These historic proceedings must be fair - and be perceived as fair - and their verdicts must be viewed as credible. By moving them to federal court and out of the ad hoc, chaotic, and discredited military commissions at Guantanamo, the administration has taken a crucial step toward ensuring that the results of the trial will be recognized as legitimate, HRW said.

One concern for prosecutors, particularly with Mohammed, will be claims that part of the evidence was obtained by harsh interrogation, some aspects of which have been described as torture.

Another will be the making available of intelligence to defense counsel and their al-Qaeda clients. "We have to give them all kinds of information about our methods of intelligence that can only make them more efficient at killing us," said Andrew McCarthy, the chief prosecutor in Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman's trial over his role in the 1993 World Trade Centre bombings. "It's a massively stupid decision when we're at war with them," he said.

Over 150 defendants have been convicted on terrorism charges in US federal courts since 2001. The military commissions have only tried three cases during the same period.

Human Rights Watch said the decision to transfer the five cases to federal courts was diminished by the administration's decision to keep other pending cases before military commissions, providing substandard justice. While the recently enacted Military Commissions Act of 2009 significantly improves upon the Bush administration's system of military commissions, it still departs in fundamental ways from the fair trial procedures used in US federal courts and courts martial. Human Rights Watch said that any trial before the revised system of military commissions will carry the stigma of Guantanamo.

The cases remaining before military commissions include that of Omar Khadr, a Canadian citizen who was 15 years old in 2002 when he allegedly threw the grenade that killed US Army Sgt. First Class Christopher Speer and wounded two others. The US government has refused to acknowledge his status as a child or to apply universally recognized standards of juvenile justice in his case.

No international tribunal since Nuremberg has prosecuted a child for alleged war crimes. The United Nations committee that monitors the rights of children found that the United States has held alleged child soldiers at Guantanamo without giving due account of their status as children and concluded that the "conduct of criminal proceedings against children within the military justice system should be avoided."

"Why would the Obama administration attempt to revive discredited military commissions by trying a child soldier?" Mariner said. "They should not be trying anyone before military commissions."

Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and his four alleged co-conspirators were held for years without charge or trial in the custody of the Central Intelligence Agency, and were not transferred to Guantanamo until September 2006. The five men were charged before the military commissions in February 2008.

Human Rights Watch called on the Obama administration to prosecute in federal court all the detainees at Guantanamo accused of terrorism and other crimes.

Members of al-Qaeda seek to be acknowledged as soldiers rather than denigrated as criminals, Human Rights Watch said. Putting them on trial in military commissions would have reinforced that view, handing al-Qaeda an enormous propaganda victory. Trial in federal court will deny them the status of warrior.

Judge William Young underscored this point in the 2003 trial of the "shoe bomber," Richard Reid. As Judge Young said at the defendant's sentencing, "You are not an enemy combatant. You are a terrorist. You are not a soldier in any war. . . To give you that reference, to call you a soldier, gives you far too much stature."

Regardless of Human Rights Watch, the views of the former and current mayors of New York City, and those of the American public in general, the move to grant federal trials is controversial, and has split the nation.

Obama admits he is 'too clumsy' to Twitter

US President Barack Obama Monday said he was 'too clumsy' to use popular social-networking websites such as Twitter, despite aides making extensive use of them during his election campaign.

Obama told some 500 students in Shanghai that he had never used Twitter but supported unrestricted access to all internet technology.

'My thumbs are too clumsy to type in things on the phone,' he said. 'But I am a big believer in technology and I'm a big believer in openness when it comes to the flow of information.'

Obama was responding to a question about access to Twitter and China's use of its 'Great Firewall' to block access to politically sensitive online content for the country's estimated 350 million internet users.

'I think that the more freely information flows, the stronger the society becomes, because then citizens of countries around the world can hold their own governments accountable,' he said.

Obama joked that as US president 'there are times where I wish information didn't flow so freely because then I wouldn't have to listen to people criticising me all the time.'

He said the open criticism 'makes our democracy stronger and it makes me a better leader because it forces me to hear opinions that I don't want to hear.'

Online 'citizen participation' in governance had made the internet an 'even more powerful tool,' Obama said.

'In fact, one of the reasons that I won the presidency was because we were able to mobilise young people like yourself to get involved through the internet,' he told the students.

Obama criticises the Great Firewall of China

London, Nov. 16 : President Barack Obama has criticized the "Great Firewall of China" or the internet censorship in the communist country by saying that the open internet use should be encouraged.

Obama, who steered clear of touching sensitive topics during his first day in the country, used a live question-and-answer session with Chinese students in Shanghai to criticise censorship of the internet.

The Chinese side was nervous at US requests for a live broadcast and online streaming. Finally, the session was shown live only on Shanghai television, The Times reports.

Obama was asked whether he knew of the "Great Firewall" - the popular term for the blocks that China's Government imposes on the Internet to keep out content its censors deem inappropriate for its citizens.

Obama said: "I have always been a strong supporter of open Internet use. I am a big supporter of non-censorship. I recognise that different countries have different traditions."

He continued the subtle criticism of his hosts, by saying: "I should be honest, there are times when I wish information didn't flow so freely, then I wouldn't have to listen to people criticise me all the time. People naturally when in positions of power think 'How could that person say that of me? That's irresponsible'."

But Obama believed such openness made him a better leader, forcing him to listen to opinions he did not want to hear.

China's leaders are rarely required - or have the opportunity - to be exposed to criticism.

The Great Firewall filters out almost all such remarks and, in any case, few dare to post comments disparaging to the leadership for fear of retribution.

He averted possible objections from Communist Party censors who say that the Internet needs to be monitored to protect its people from harm.

"The good outweighs the bad so much. That is why I am so glad the internet is part of this forum," he said.

Up to 16 US soldiers committed suicide last month

More U.S. soldiers likely committed suicide last month than were killed in the Fort Hood shootings earlier this month.

The U.S. army is investigating sixteen potential suicides among active-duty soldiers in October, about twice the number reported in September, Army officials said.

Of the 7 reported in September, three have been confirmed as suicides, and 4 still are under investigation to determine the cause of death.

In the nine months from January to October, the Army reported 133 potential active-duty suicides. Of those, ninety deaths have been confirmed as suicides, and the other 43 remain under investigation. For the same period in 2008, there were 115 suicides among active-duty soldiers.

"Stigma continues to be one of the most difficult challenges we confront," said Army Brig. Gen. Colleen McGuire, director of the Suicide Prevention Task Force. "The more we educate our Army community about the need to get help, the need to get it early, and that full recovery is often possible, the less stigma we'll see."

Suicide is not absent from the reserve components, as 69 potential suicides were reported among reserve-component soldiers not on active duty for the first ten months of 2009. Of those, 41 have been confirmed as suicides. For the same time period in 2008, there were forty seven suicides. October accounted for 8 of the potential suicides in 2009.

In an effort to curb suicides, the Army in March chartered the multidisciplinary task force McGuire heads up. Its mission was to make rapid improvements across the full spectrum of health promotion, risk reduction and suicide prevention programs. It has made more than 170 improvements to these programs, Army officials said.

Army leaders took it a step further when they announced the formal start of the Comprehensive Soldier Fitness Program on Oct. 1. The holistic program is designed to emphasize psychological, emotional and mental strength. The new program uses a balanced, multifaceted approach and a lifelong learning model that includes individual assessment, tailored virtual training, classroom training at all levels of Army education, and embedded resilience experts.

The goal of the program is to provide soldiers the critical skills then need to face any and all of life's challenges, officials said.

U.S. soldiers and families in need of crisis assistance can contact Military OneSource at 1-800-342-9647, or the Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury. Both organizations provide trained consultants around the clock, seven days a week, 365 days a year.

Clinton says aid to Afghanistan might have to stop

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has told ABC News that Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai must do more to fight corruption from within.

Ms Clinton said the Afghan government will need to establish a major crimes tribunal and an anti-corruption commission if it wants continued civilian aid from Washington.

Considering last month's fraud-tainted elections, she said any anti-corruption declaration from Mr Karzai would need to include a no impunity clause for corrupt Afghan officials.

Any US civilian aid sent to Afghanistan would need to be handled by government ministries that can be held accountable, she said.

Ms Clinton told the ABC that Washington was only in Afghanistan to defeat al-Qaeda and had no long term plans to build a modern Afghan democracy.

Israeli judge quashes conviction against Arab boy

An Israeli judge has granted protection from the justice system to an Arab teenager who threw stones at a police car during a protest last month.

The judge has ordered that the youth not be convicted despite being found guilty of the offence, which occurred during a demonstration over the Israeli attack on Gaza earlier this year.

The youth, a 17 year old, was arrested during a protest on a road near Nazareth a few days after Israel launched its operation in Gaza last December.

He could have been sent to prison for 20 years had the judge allowed the conviction to stand.

The judge ruled that while prosecutors wanted to deter other members of Israel's Arab minority from committing similar offences, he would not jail the minor because it would be a case of the Israeli state "caressing with one hand the Jewish ideological felons, and flogging with its other hand the Arab ideological felons."

Judge Yuval Shadmi said discrimination in the Israeli legal system's treatment of Jewish and Arab minors in similar matters had become unbalanced.

He referred to the lenient treatment by the police and courts both of Jewish settler youths who have attacked soldiers in the West Bank and of religious extremists who have spent many months battling police to prevent the opening of a car park on the Sabbath in Jerusalem.

The legal group acting for Israel's Arab minority has said it will now use the ruling to assist it in proving that the Israeli state has pursued a policy of systematic discrimination in demanding harsher punishments for Arab citizens.

The prosecution has announced it will appeal against the decision.

The Earl dug coal-mines

Mr. Sinclair began with a long dedicatory Epistle about nothing at all, to the Lord Winton of the period. The Earl dug coal-mines, and constructed "a moliminous rampier for a harbour." A "moliminous rampier" is a choice phrase, and may be envied by novelists who aim at distinction of "Your defending the salt pans against the Mr. Sinclair began with a long dedicatory Epistle about nothing at all, to the Lord Winton of the period. The Earl dug coal-mines, and constructed "a moliminous rampier for a harbour." A "moliminous rampier" is a choice phrase, and may be envied by novelists who aim at distinction of style. "Your defending the salt pans against the imperious waves of the raging sea from the NE. is singular," adds the Professor, addressing "the greatest coal and salt-master in Scotland, who is a nobleman, and the greatest nobleman who is a Coal and Salt Merchant." Perhaps it is already plain to the modern mind that Mr. George Sinclair, though a Professor of Philosophy, was not a very sagacious character.

Mr. Sinclair professes that his proofs of the existence of Devils "are no old wife's trattles about the fire, but such as may bide the test." He lived, one should remember, in an age when faith was really seeking aid from ghost stories. Glanvil's books--and, in America, those of Cotton Mather--show the hospitality to anecdotes of an edifying sort, which we admire in Mr. Sinclair. Indeed, Sinclair borrows from Glanvil and Henry More, authors who, like himself, wished to establish the existence of the supernatural on the strange incidents which still perplex us, but which are scarcely regarded as safe matter to argue upon. The testimony for a Ghost would seldom go to a jury in our days, though amply sufficient in the time of Mr. Sinclair. About "The Devil of Glenluce" he took particular care to be well informed, and first gave it to the world in a volume on--you will never guess what subject--Hydrostatics! In the present work he offers us

"The Devil of Glenluce Enlarged With several Remarkable Additions from an Eye and Ear Witness, A of undoubted Honesty."

Mr. Sinclair recommends its "usefulness for refuting Atheism." Probably Mr. Sinclair got the story, or had it put off on him rather, through one Campbell, a student of philosophy in Glasgow, the son of Gilbert Campbell, a weaver of Glenluce, in Galloway; the scene in our own time, of a mysterious murder. Campbell had refused alms to Alexander Agnew, a bold and sturdy beggar, who, when asked by the Judge whether he believed in a God, answered: "He knew no God but Salt, Meal, and Water." In consequence of the refusal of alms, "The Stirs first began." The "Stirs" are ghostly disturbances. They commenced with whistling in the house and out of it, "such as children use to make with their small, slender glass whistles." "About the Middle of November," says Mr. Sinclair, "the Foul Fiend came on with his extraordinary assaults." Observe that he takes the Foul Fiend entirely for granted, and that he never tells us the date of the original quarrel, and the early agitation. Stones were thrown down the chimney and in at the windows, but nobody was hurt.

Naturally Gilbert Campbell carried his tale of sorrow to the parish Minister. This did not avail him. His warp and threads were cut on his loom, and even the clothes of his were cut while they were wearing them. At night something Naturally Gilbert Campbell carried his tale of sorrow to the parish Minister. This did not avail him. His warp and threads were cut on his loom, and even the clothes of his family were cut while they were wearing them. At night something tugged the blankets off their beds, a favourite old spiritual trick, which was played, if I remember well, on a Roman Emperor, according to Suetonius. Poor Campbell had to remove his stock-in-trade, and send his children to board out, "to try whom the trouble did most follow." After this, all was quiet (as perhaps might be expected), and quiet all remained, till a son named Thomas was brought home again. Then the house was twice set on fire, and it might have been enough to give Thomas a beating. On the other hand, Campbell sent Thomas to stay with the Minister. But the troubles continued in the old way. At last the family became so accustomed to the Devil, "that they were no more afraid to keep up the Clash" (chatter) "with the Foul Fiend than to speak to each other." They were like the Wesleys, who were so familiar with the fiend Jeffrey, that haunted their home.