Mukasey Attacks Critics of “Half-Baked” Terrorism Prosecutions

Earlier today, Attorney General Michael Mukasey gave a speech on terrorism prosecutions at the 2008 D.C. Circuit Judicial Conference in Farmington, PA.

Click Here to Read Mukasey’s Speech at the 2008 D.C. Circuit Judicial Conference

In addition to asserting that the Guantanamo military commissions where 9/11 conspirators will face charges tomorrow are in the “best traditions of the American legal system,” Mukasey lashed out at critics of the Justice Department’s recent bungled prosecutions (such as the two mistrials in the case of the Seas of David plot to blow up the Sears Tower.)

“In recent months, however, some of the plots charged by the Department have been dismissed by skeptics as fanciful or half-baked – not worthy of being charged in federal court. To those who would say that some of these plots are unrealistic or no more than “loose talk,” I ask this: Are there any words that could comfort you if your loved ones were killed in a plot that had been dismissed by the FBI as unrealistic or that a prosecutor had waited to charge because he was hoping to get a final piece of evidence to put the finishing touches on his case?

And to those who are quick to assess that a charged plot is illogical or improbable, ask yourself this: Prior to September 11th, if you had stood at the base of the World Trade Center, looking up at those huge, magnificent structures, how seriously would you have taken the idea that ten men, armed only with boxcutters, could have reduced those buildings to rubble and caused so much human sorrow?”

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 4th, 2008 at 5:28 pm and is filed under National Security. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.