On Second Thought..

It's clear from this Gibbs' spin that the administration does not currently have a fall-person for their apparent backtrack off trying KSM and crew in lower Manhattan. Hmmm, who will it be?

Well, it can't be Holder unless they are planning on getting rid of him. Bloomberg? That's a pretty powerful enemy to be creating. New Yorkers themselves? Would they dare? Hey, some of them did run scared during the Air Force One low pass last Spring. But c'mon. Bush? He was trying KSM at Gitmo. But surely they are trying to get there somehow.

Maybe one way is to mention Aafia Siddique. The suspected AQ biological expert trained in American universities is currently on trial in Manhattan to very little fanfare. But the press is always there to help:

By keeping the focus on Ghazni, the trial will avoid becoming, as human-rights groups had hoped, a referendum on the issue of enforced disappearances. Siddiqui has achieved cult status in much of the Muslim world, where she is a symbol of hundreds of individuals believed to have been "disappeared" in connection with the war on terrorism. Groups like the British-based Reprieve have argued that the practice of enforced disappearances begun under George W. Bush has continued apace under the Obama Administration, and that the use of foreign intelligence to detain and interrogate suspects has in the worst instances amounted to nothing less than torture by proxy.

For Siddiqui this means that whether she is found guilty or not, the most serious question raised by her case will not be answered: whether she is, as one of her former attorneys described her, "the ultimate victim of the American dark side."

Imagine how it would be with KSM. Now ahem, some of a cynical nature have postulated that based on Obama's propensity to bash Bush/Cheney at every turn the whole idea of trying KSM in Manhattan instead of a commission (like the Cole bombers) was to gain a never-ending stream of Bush-hate over the air that would help Democrats in the mid-terms. Enter Scott Brown. He ran against trying terrorists in the town square, which proved successful. Maybe that helps to explain Obama's Holder's sudden epiphany.

In the meantime here's a thought--why not hold the trial in DC? The administration has already said they plan to try "Hambali" there and so far there's only a whimper of protest. KSM also bombed the Pentagon and tried to take out the government by hitting the Capitol or White House, so it's fitting. Besides, Washington already has a pretty strong no-fly restricted airspace zone and ample security.

And wouldn't it be just a little bit fun to see the DC politicos trying to justify not trying KSM in Washington for the same reasons New Yorkers are now saying he shouldn't be tried in New York, after saying the Big Apple should steel themselves and not let the terrorists win?

MORE 1/31/10

I missed this from Michelle Malkin last week. Siddique is married to Ammar al-Baluchi, KSM's nephew and Ramzi Yousef's cousin. Small world, eh.