Terrorism and Crime

I just read an EMail from someone I respect, who said he had been at a conference where the experts on terrorism and the experts on global crime agree that the two have merged.

This suggests to me that we should be moving from "The Long War" to "Fighting Global Non-State Actors."

That also means that like the Austrians in 1914, the choice should always be to try the guilty parties in a court of law and then punish them, one way or another.

This doesn't mean that I am against Special Forces tracking down terrorists and having it out in a gunfight.  Or the odd drone attack.  But, we must be careful that we do not substitute non-judicial killing for the rule of law.  The US Congress should not be in the background here, but up front and taking responsibility for providing what the US Constitution demands.♠

It does mean that if we capture them, since we are not willing to treat them like combatants (and put them away for the duration, which is for ever) and we find the German approach in dealing with illegal combatants in 1870/71 and 1914 (hang them from the lamp posts) repugnant, we should try them in a court of law.  That includes the five that the Attorney General, Eric Holder, announced on Friday.

I am not afraid of trying them in a court of law.  If we don't have the evidence to convict them they should go free.  Some CIA agent behind a screen saying:  "He is the one" is not good enough for me.

If in the end they are found innocent and they are US citizens, turn them lose (but continue to pay attention).  If they are found innocent and they are not US citizens, deport them or offer them internment if they are unwilling to go home.

It is my opinion that for terrorists of the al Qaeda strain, life in prison may be worse for the guilty party than a death sentence.  Your mileage may differ.

But, at the end of the day the best metric for knowing you have gotten a hand on terrorism is when the civil police are handling it on their own.

As for trans-national narco thugs, that may be a different story.  We will have to see how that evolves.

Regards  —  Cliff

♠  For example, "To make rules for the government and regulation of the land and naval forces."