Is the United States serious about bringing terrorists to justice? Assuming that the evidence against Osama bin Laden is credible, why not try him in a court that is composed of judges from all nations, including Islamic jurists?
Bush appears to assume that the next step would be trial in a US court. In effect, this would proclaim the US to be not only the world’s policeman but also the world’s judicial system.
Whoever wishes to bring terrorists to justice should be thinking about courts, not assassination policies or the ridiculous bombing of civilians.
If the September 11 attacks were an assault on the world, and the world’s “best” investigators, intelligence operatives, bankers, police officers and soldiers are working to bring the perpetrators to justice, so too should the world’s respected judges.
Islamic governments would find it easier to surrender suspected terrorists to a global court that included judges both of the Muslim faith and from Islamic legal systems.
This has been a repeated suggestion from the Afghanistan government. The offer, sadly, was blatantly rejected by Bush: “Hand over Bin Laden or face the consequences; this is non-negotiable.”
The man who cries for “liberty, democracy and the rule of law” is commanding military action that has no basis in international law, which has already killed hundreds of “non-militants” in Afghanistan.
This arrogance forces us to ask the question, is the US really serious about bringing terrorists to justice? Suwyma Mandhlazi, Kwa Ndebele
Your editorial of October 12 on the war in Afghanistan deserves praise. In my view, the questions you raise should be thoroughly debated here in the US.
But the stark fact is the climate here makes such a discussion virtually impossible.
It is difficult to express the many changes in the public mood these days. As soon as people had the chance to emotionally distance themselves from the attack enabling more considered thought, more and fearful events renew our collective disorientation.
We hear nothing of history’s lesson about the completely unforeseeable consequences of war.
So, in common with you, I harbour deep concern about where we will be in the next few months or years.
I have been a reader of the M&G for two years now. Your editorial is the most recent example of the value your writing has for me. Thanks. Jim Curry, Indian Lake, New York