I don't understand why an American citizen found aiding terrorists in Iraq isn't brought back to the U.S., tried as a traitor, and then shot? For once I agree with liberal attornies who don't want to turn over an 'enemy combatant' found in a war zone to a foreign country. I don't agree with the notion that civilian courts have any legal jurisdiction over prisoners of war, but I also don't understand our reluctance to try and execute those traitors found to be materially aiding and abeding the enemies of the United States under war-time conditions.

Hat tip Alicia for this AP story:

The U.S. government wants an Iraqi court to handle criminal charges against a naturalized American citizen who is being held in Iraq on suspicion that he is a senior operative of insurgent leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. The man's lawyers said he is innocent and likely to be tortured if he is handed over to the Iraqis.

The case is the first known instance in which the government has decided to allow an American to be tried in the new Iraqi legal system. At least four other U.S. citizens suspected of aiding the insurgency had been held in Iraq, the Pentagon has said.

Shawqi Omar, 44, who once served in the Minnesota National Guard, has been held since late 2004 in U.S.-run military prisons as an enemy combatant. He has not been charged with a crime or been given access to a lawyer, said Jonathan Hafetz, a lawyer representing Omar's family in the United States.

The government said Omar, who also holds Jordanian citizenship, was harboring an Iraqi insurgent and four Jordanian fighters at the time of his arrest and also had bomb-making materials. He is described in court papers as a relative of Zarqawi who was plotting to kidnap foreigners from Baghdad hotels.

Separately, Omar, Zarqawi and 11 others have been indicted by a Jordanian court on charges they plotted a chemical attack against Jordan's intelligence agency.

Posted by: Rusty at 01:07 PM | Comments (7) | Add Comment
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