Feds: Trial of 9/11's Khalid Sheikh Mohammed in NYC 'Not Off the Table,' But His Execution Is a Done Deal

By Ward Harkavy Tue., Feb. 2 2010 at 7:07 AM

Categories: 9/11, Crime and Punishment, Featured, I Hate NY

Backtracking on the White House's backpedaling, a top Justice Department official now says that the government hasn't dismissed its original plan to try 9/11 plotter Khalid Sheikh Mohammed in New York City.

But no matter where he's tried, we're going to execute him, says President Barack Obama's chief flack, Robert Gibbs.

It all sounds rather Cardassian — or at the very least like a Stalin show trial of the '30s.

The Justice Department's new No. 2 man, Gary Grindler (replacing, at least temporarily, David Ogden), is quoted by the Daily News as saying about the trial's venue, "We haven't made a final decision and it's not off the table."

Why have a trial in the first place? Over the weekend, Gibbs told CNN, "Khalid Sheikh Mohammed is going to meet justice and he's going to meet his maker. He's likely to be executed for the heinous crimes he committed."

If that's the way it's going to be, why put up with permanent traffic jams and, in effect, martial law south of Canal Street just to hold the trial here? Sometimes the drama is better than the mystery.

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