On CNN’s State of the Union this morning, Sen. Judd Gregg (R-NH) added his voice to a chorus of Republicans critical of the upcoming civilian trials in New York City for Guantanamo detainees — including self-proclaimed 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed.
“They shouldn’t be tried in our criminal justice system, they should be tried in our military justice system,” Gregg said. “And it’s absolutely inexcusable we’re not using our military justice system to try these people. That’s why we have such a system.”
These people are evil people. They represent a cause which wants to destroy this nation. If they have the opportunity and were to get free they would try to destroy this country. There’s no reason we should have them in the criminal justice system.
Sen. Kent Conrad (D-ND), who appeared on the same State of the Union segment, didn’t go quite as far as Gregg — but did make clear that he thinks life imprisonment isn’t enough for someone like Khalid Sheikh Mohammed.
“Idon’t think Khalid Sheikh Mohammed should be imprisoned,” Conrad said. “I think Khalid Sheikh Mohammed ought to be put to death.”
