Monday, February 06, 2006

Cole Bomber Escapes Yemen Prison

Jamal Badawi, convicted of and sentenced to death for the October 12, 2000 bombing of the USS Cole, escaped a Yemen Prison last week. 13 of the 23 that went with him are known al Qaeda terrorists. (Washington Post: Plotter in USS Cole Attack Flees Jail).

Yemen took its sweet time reporting the jail break in the first place, and thus far have been less than cooperative with the west. They have yet to provide a full list of names and photographs of the escaped terrorists, and it is likely that the escapees have already made it to safety in the mountains. Many of the mountain tribes in that region are sympathetic to al Qaeda and have little or no interaction with the Yemen government.

This is yet another example of why the US should not be using the legal systems in foreign countries for the detention, prosecution, and possible execution of terrorists. People may criticise our use of Guantanamo Bay for the detention of these scum, but the fact is that they are secure there. There's no chance of them escaping Cuba to attack the US again.

President Clinton once issued an Executive Order authorizing the US to use the military for the forceful extraction of any criminal on foreign soil wanted for crimes against the United States. Here's a classic example of where that order should have been implemented. The bombing of the USS Cole was an act of war against the US. There's no excuse for leaving the terrorists behind that bombing in a Yemen prison.

It's about time we learned the lesson that we do not have any Middle Eastern allies in this war on terror. Bin Laden was allowed to escape Tora Bora by Afghan warlords enlisted to assist in his capture. Pakistan continues to look the other way while terror groups train within their borders. Saudi Arabian citizens continue to fund charities linked to terror cells. To consider these nations allies in the war is ludicrous.

The way to deal with these terrorists is quite simple. Bring them before a military tribunal, convict them, and execute them. There is no rehabilitation of a terrorist and long-term incarceration is a financial drain that is simply not worth it. What is obvious is that we cannot afford to leave these terrorists in foreign prisons, especially in nations that are sympathetic to their cause.

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1 comment :

Bill Gnade said...

It's all pretty scary, and quite sad. What to do? You've offered harsh solutions, but any rational person observing Hussein's "Trial" in Iraq must conclude that THAT sort of thing just does not work. Is there ever a situation in which a person is indeed guilty without the need for a jury to dispatch our doubts? Hussein is guilty, is he not? Shouldn't he be dispatched himself by now, if not to the paradise to which he has sent others, at least to another country that will not hold a carnival side-show trial?