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President-elect Obama's advisers are quietly crafting a proposal to ship dozens, if not hundreds, of imprisoned terrorism suspects to the United States to face criminal trials, a plan that would make good on his promise to close the Guantanamo Bay prison but could require creation of a controversial new system of justice.
For reference: Obama plans Guantanamo closure, US terror trials
This is a battle I've been fighting for a long time, and it is nothing short of amazing to see it finally come to fruition. Finally, terror suspects being held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba will face trial and conviction under due process of law, rather than indefinite imprisonment and torture based on suspicion of guilt.
However, this is not only a restoration of the ideals of liberty on which our nation was founded, it is also a resonating victory in the War on Terror. This action, along with a drawing down of troops in Iraq, will take much of the wind out of the sails of the extremist rhetoric which paints the U.S. as an enemy of Islam. No longer will al-Qaeda be able to take young, impressionable Muslims under their wing and point to Iraq and Guantanamo, saying, "Look how they hate us, look how they treat our people." Terrorist recruitment will suffer greatly as a result.
A weak enemy is a defeated enemy, and our hostile and inhumane actions toward the Middle East and fundamentalist Muslims have served too long to bolster and strengthen the resolve of al-Qaeda and other would-be terrorists.
President-elect Obama is sending a clear message to our enemies and allies alike overseas: America is a sober-minded nation. We are not indiscriminately fueled by hatred and blood-lust, but we are tireless in our pursuit of justice.
We will not rest until those responsible for the attacks on our country are brought to bear the consequences of their actions, but we will not sacrifice fair treatment and those basic human rights which are ingrained so deeply into the fabric of our great nation in pursuit of those ends.
To those who hate us and seek to do us harm: You will be captured, you will be tried, you will be prosecuted. You will witness firsthand the power of the United States justice system. To those innocent and peaceful Muslims who have become a casualty of a war in which they had no place: We wish you no harm. If you are wrongly captured in connection to actions you did not commit and with which you had no part, you will be tried fairly, and the evidence of your innocence will exonerate you.
No longer will America be a symbol across the world of terror, bloodshed, inhumanity and imperialism. We will once again take our rightful place as a beacon of hope, proudly proclaiming the creed from which we have strayed too far in the last eight years: Liberty, and Justice for All.
