The federal government’s decision to try Osama bin Laden’s son-in-law, Sulaiman Abu Ghaith, in the United States — specifically New York City — has sparked outrage.
Republican lawmakers say legal precedent has been established for “enemy combatants” to be put on trial at Guantanamo Bay, and that vital intelligence could be lost in a civilian trial, NBC News reported Thursday.
“We believe the administration’s decision here to bring this person to New York City, if that’s what’s happened, without letting Congress know, is a very bad precedent to set,” South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham said in a statement.
He added Republicans are putting the Obama administration “on notice. We think that sneaking this guy into the country, clearly going around the intent of Congress when it comes to enemy combatants, will be challenged.”
Meanwhile, Sen. John McCain of Arizona said that not trying Abu Ghaith as an enemy combatant before a military panel prevents the United States from obtaining intelligence that could be used to stop future attacks by al-Qaida or similar groups.
“We are in a long struggle with the forces of al-Qaida and radical extremists — and if you give someone their Miranda rights, that means they’re in civilian court and they’re not an enemy combatant. They’re just an ordinary criminal,” McCain, the senior GOP member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, told CNN’s Piers Morgan.
Read more: newsmax.com
