The Global War on Terror: from the right

The Michigan Partisan

By Page W. H. Brousseau IV

TIMES STAFF WRTIER

Here is a story: America is at war. Deceptively, those who wage war against America's civilian population infiltrate our borders, included among them are naturalized US citizens. Through incompetence and a phone call to the FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation) by one of the handlers, they are quickly apprehended before they can commit any destruction.

Life magazine declares in a headline the captives, "SHOULD BE PUT TO DEATH." The Detroit Free Press states harshly, "Realism calls for a stone wall and a firing squad, not a lot of holier-than-thou eyewash about extending the protection of civil rights to a group that came among us to blast, burn, and kill." Eight men are tried before a military tribunal, six sentenced to death, and the two who called the FBI are given 30 years of hard labor.

This is not a story that takes place in 2002 dealing with al-Qaeda. This is a true story that took place in 1942 dealing with Nazi saboteurs who came ashore from German U-Boats in Florida and Long Island. Although no military tribunal has been conducted yet in our war on terror, there remain plenty of individuals in US custody that deserve to have a fair trial and be shot.

First against the wall should be Zacarius Moussaoui. This French national was apprehended on immigration charges in Minnesota last August after telling his flight instructor that he just wanted to fly level, he said he had no interest in learning take offs and landings. The FBI was alerted and according to MSNBC they found in his apartment, "flight manuals for the Boeing 747-400, a flight-simulator computer program, binoculars, two knives, fighting shields and a laptop computer." When he was arraigned in Federal court earlier this year he was referred to as the "twentieth hijacker."

Whether or not he was part of the al-Qaeda cell involved in the Flight 93 hijacking is still in doubt, but there can be no doubt this guy was destined to cause mass havoc and injury towards Americans. If there was ever someone destined for a military tribunal, Moussaoui is it. However, President Bush is not swayed on this, and Moussaoui's court hearings are occasions for his judicial antics, tirades against America, and praises of Allah. His court hearings play out like a Saturday Night Live skit.

Yaser Hamdi was born in the United States but grew up in Saudi Arabia and was caught fighting with the Taliban. He now sits in a Navy Brig, out of sight and out of mind. The US has a responsibility to detain people who wish us ill and death. In World War II, Federal Courts ruled US citizens fighting with the enemy have no legal standing in US courts. Other individuals held on immigration charges need to be held until all available intelligence can be gathered from them. Then they should be sent out of this country and imprisoned for a long term if they ever return illegally.

Our law enforcement agencies need to direct their attention to those who fit the profile of the enemy we face. Nearly all of the hijackers were middle class, of Middle-eastern descent, and male. Strip searching old ladies and little children is a waste of resources and a wasted attempt not to offend any hijacking suspects among us. Confiscating fingernail files and necklace charms in the shape of guns are beyond stupid.

When 86 year old retired Marine General Joe Foss, who served as governor of South Dakota and president of National Rifle Association, was taken to a small room at an airport and grilled over the mysterious object he carried in his pocket, alarms should have sounded across the nation. The object that the security personnel were devoting so much time trying to figure out the purpose of was the General's WWII Congressional Medal of Honor. After 45 minutes of having him remove his boots and belt three times the war hero was allowed to continue on his trip home.

If the word 'disgraceful' does not come to your mind over this, just think that those workers are still working at that airport. Think further of the terrorists among us who go unchecked, undetained, or unpunished when the times call for action, a stone wall and a firing squad.