On terrorism, Obama still doesn’t get it

Despite an embarrassing rebuke to the Obama administration's contention that civilian courts are good and proper places to try enemy combatants in the War on Terror, the president and Attorney General Eric Holder foolishly press on. Next up, 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. Let's hope that a civilian court doesn't treat KSM like it did fellow terrorist Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani.

Ghailani was the first Guantanamo detainee to face a civilian trial. The rules of evidence prevented a key witness from testifying that Ghailani personally provided explosives for the terrorist plot to blow up a U.S. embassy in Africa. As a result, he was acquitted on more than 280 counts and convicted on just one. That one conviction could land him in federal prison for 20 years (which is good) but a 280-1 conviction rate should set off alarm bells for future trials.

Obama and Holder should switch gears and seek military trials for the rest of the detainees. But they are so invested in civil trials (for reasons that escape me and, I wager, most Americans, too) it is doubtful they will.