Good for the GOP:
Republicans cheered the capture of Ahmed Abu Khattala, who played a key role in the 2012 Benghazi attacks that killed four Americans, but demanded that he be held at Guantanamo Bay and questioned thoroughly.
"It is obviously good news that this terrorist is now in American custody," House Speaker John Boehner said in a statement. "I am grateful for the work of our military, assisted by the FBI, in capturing him.
"I look forward to hearing more details regarding the raid, and I expect the administration to give our military professionals time to properly gather any useful intelligence he has," the Ohio Republican said.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said that Khattala "needs to be interrogated, extensively" in the attacks that killed Ambassador Chris Stevens, information management officer Sean Smith, and former Navy SEALs Glen Doherty and Tyrone Woods.
And four senators — John McCain of Arizona, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Marco Rubio of Florida and Ted Cruz of Texas — said that Khattala should be viewed as an enemy combatant and held at the U.S. prison camp at Guantanamo.
"Obviously he should be put on trial," McCain told The Washington Post. "I'd bring him to Guantanamo. Where else can you take him to?"
Graham told the Post that Khattala should not be read his Miranda rights.
"I hope we gather intelligence through the law of war interrogation," Graham said. "He should be going to Gitmo."
Rubio said in a statement that "the Obama administration should immediately transfer him to the military detention center at Guantanamo Bay for detention and interrogation.
"In order to locate all individuals associated with the attacks that led to the deaths of four Americans, we need intelligence," he said. "That intelligence is often obtained through an interrogation process."
And Cruz said in a statement that Khattala "has been openly defying the United States for more than 20 months.
"Now that he is in custody, the proper authorities should be given ample time to assess what intelligence he may have about ongoing terrorist operations against Americans.
"Khattala is a foreign terrorist, captured by our special forces overseas for his violent attack on a U.S. facility. He belongs in Guantanamo and in the military justice system, not in the U.S. civilian court system with the constitutional protections afforded U.S. citizens.
"Our top priority should be preventing future attacks and bringing to justice the other terrorists who participated in the murder of four Americans in Benghazi," Cruz said.
My friends, when you can get the Tea Party and the "establishment" this closely on the same page, the question really is a no-brainer.
So, accordingly, and as foreshadowed in this space yesterday....:
But that won't be happening, a White House spokeswoman said late Tuesday.
President Barack Obama has decided not to send Khattala to Guantanamo, said National Security Council spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden.
"The administration’s policy is clear on this issue: We have not added a single person to the GTMO population since President Obama took office, and we have had substantial success delivering swift justice to terrorists through our federal court system," Hayden told the Hill in a statement.
Naturally. To put Mr. Khattala in Gitmo would be to admit that the War Against Islamic Fundamentalism is actually a, you know, war. A war requiring military responses and tactics and interrogations of captured enemy combatants. That admission Barack Hussein Obama will never make, even if he has to let us all be slaughtered to preserve his cherished "lawfare" fantasy.
In addition to which, the last thing O wants to do is lend any real-world credence to the Benghazi consulate attack that "officially" never happened, particularly with Trey Gowdy's House Select Committee warming up in the ol' bullpen. Even capturing Mr. Khattala itself does too much of that. Send him to Gitmo and it would all come out that Benghazi was a planned, pre-meditated military attack on a "soft" U.S. target. Give him Miranda rights to hide behind and all such embarrassing disclosures are quietly and usefully buried by the simple implement of never being uttered because the questions will never be asked. And that protects the White House even more than the "defendant".
Or, as they refer to it, "swift justice".
I actually kind of hope Khatalla's trial is televised. Seeing him laughing at and taunting the judge, jury, gallery, and entire country might just be enlightening to viewers.
Maybe he'll steal Mr. al-Baghdadi's catch-phrase.
UPDATE: The plot thickens.
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