New York readies for the 'Gitmo Five' By Ben West and Fred Burton
United States Attorney General Eric Holder announced on November 13 that the US
Justice Department had decided to try five suspected terrorists, currently
being held at Guantanamo Bay, in the US District Court for the Southern
District of New York, located in Lower Manhattan. The five suspects - Khalid
Sheikh Mohammed, Walid Muhammad Salih Mubarek bin Attash, Ramzi bin al-Shibh,
Ali Abdul-Aziz Ali and Mustafa Ahmed al-Hawsawi - are all accused of being
involved in the September 11, 2001, attack on the US, with Mohammed describing
himself as the mastermind in a 2003 confession.
The announcement follows from US President Barack Obama's first executive
order, which he signed on January 22, to close the US military detention
facility at Guantanamo Bay and another executive order to suspend the military
tribunals set up under the
George W Bush administration to try suspected terrorists. Holder's decision has
generated much debate and highlighted the legal murkiness concerning the status
of Guantanamo detainees and how best to bring them to justice.
Beyond this murkiness is the perceived security threat of bringing five
suspected terrorists accused of plotting the September 11 terrorist attacks to
trial in New York City. Former New York mayor Rudolph Giuliani said on CNN's State
of the Union that he thought holding the trial in New York would put
residents at risk. And Andrew McCarthy, former assistant US attorney for the
Southern District of New York, wrote in The New Republic that the trial will
"create a public-safely nightmare for New York City". Numerous other observers
and media outlets around the world have voiced similar security concerns about
the New York trial.
Although there has been much criticism of the decision to hold the trial in New
York City, when it comes to prosecuting terror suspects, the Southern District
of New York knows what it's doing. The staff of the US attorney's office for
the Southern District of New York has gained considerable knowledge and
expertise prosecuting terror cases over the years, just as the US Marshals
Service Special Operations Group (SOG) has gained much experience providing
security for those trials.
It was in the Southern District of New York in 1995 that Omar Abdel Rahman, aka
the Blind Sheikh, was tried for the so-called Landmarks Plot of 1993 and
received a life sentence. In 1996, Abdel Basit (aka Ramzi Yousef) and two
co-conspirators were also tried in the Southern District and sentenced to life
in prison for their roles in the Bojinka Plot, which also included an
indictment for Khalid Sheikh Mohammed (the staff of the Southern District has
been familiar with Mohammed for some time now).
The attackers behind the 1998 attacks against the US embassies were also
prosecuted in the Southern District of New York and sentenced to life
imprisonment. Few other courts have so much experience handling and prosecuting
high-profile terrorism cases, so it should have come as no surprise that Holder
named the district as the venue for the upcoming trial. On top of all this, the
World Trade Center towers were also in the Southern District of New York,
putting the deadliest site of the 9/11 attacks under the Southern District's
jurisdiction.
The case will be prosecuted jointly by the offices of the US Attorney for the
Southern District of New York, led by Preet Bharara, and the US Attorney for
the Eastern District of Virginia, led by Neil H. MacBride. The Eastern District
of Virginia has also successfully prosecuted several terrorism cases, including
those of John Walker Lindh in 2002, the Virginia Jihad Network in 2005 and
Zacarias Moussaoui in 2006.
While some believe that trying the so-called "Gitmo Five" in New York City will
result in more terrorist attacks in the city, Stratfor does not anticipate a
marked increase in the number of plots or attacks. New York City has long been
a popular target for radical Islamists - there have been nine known plots
involving targets in New York uncovered since the 9/11 attacks, including two
in the past six months.
In May 2009, four men were arrested for attempting to detonate explosives
outside a synagogue in the Bronx, and in September, Najibullah Zazi was
arrested for plotting to detonate backpack explosives on trains in New York
City. Other plots have included a 2007 plan to detonate fuel tanks at John F
Kennedy International Airport, a 2006 plot to detonate explosives in the
Holland Tunnel and a 2004 plot to attack a subway station near Madison Square
Garden.
New York City remains an alluring target for jihadis because of its symbolism.
Home to more than eight million people, it is the largest city in the United
States and a global financial and media center. Whatever happens there gets
more exposure and publicity than virtually anywhere else in the world. It is
also a perceived center of Jewish wealth and culture (New York has the
second-largest Jewish population behind Tel Aviv), compounding the threat from
Islamist radicals. New York City will remain a terrorist target for many
reasons other than the Gitmo Five trial. It is also interesting to note that
none of the city's other high-profile terrorism trials has ever resulted in a
retaliatory attack against the city.
In addition to the federal prosecutors who will be involved in the trial having
experience dealing with terrorism cases, the New York Police Department has the
training, manpower and focus to provide effective physical security. Federal
agents, including those of the US Marshals Service SOG, will be primarily
responsible for handling the five suspects and providing security inside the
federal courthouse. The building is one of the most secure federal courthouses
in the country, equipped with anti-vehicle borne explosive device barricades,
24-hour guard posts and high-resolution video cameras.
The US Marshals will be augmented by NYPD "Hercules" teams (designed to provide
a surge of police presence in an area to prevent or disrupt criminal and
terrorist operations) and will likely place sniper teams on nearby rooftops for
added security. Vehicular and pedestrian traffic around the courthouse will be
severely limited, with nearby streets closed to traffic and nearby subway
entrances closed to riders.
During the trial, the five defendants will be held at the Metropolitan
Correctional Complex, which is connected to the courthouse via a
third-of-a-mile-long underground tunnel. This significantly reduces the threat
of terrorist attack or a disruption of the proceedings by allowing security
forces to control the geography of the trial venue and spot unusual activity.
Another geographic benefit is the fact that Manhattan is an island with limited
access points (bridges and tunnels), which makes it easier to seal off the area
and control who or what gets in or out. These factors do not necessarily
preclude an attack, especially a suicide attack in which the perpetrator is
undeterred by the risk of death, but do decrease the options of an attacker and
increase the options of law enforcement personnel in dealing with the potential
risks.
Because the courthouse will be under such tight security, any attacker able to
penetrate the island cordon and slip into the area would likely go after softer
targets surrounding the building. The NYPD will be responsible for protecting
areas outside the courthouse and will probably create a secure buffer around
the complex, the depth of which will depend on the severity of any given
threat.
Police would have the wherewithal to put whole sections of the city under heavy
lockdown and provide a level of physical security designed to thwart terrorist
activities that have reached the latter stages (deployment, attack and escape).
This buffer would both protect softer targets nearby and make it that much
harder for would-be attackers to infiltrate the courthouse. The NYPD also has
the intelligence-collecting capabilities (informants, undercover officers,
surveillants, analysts, etc.) to keep a close eye on any potential threat in
the area leading up to and during the trial. The NYPD developed these
capabilities with a vengeance following the 9/11 attacks, and in the years
since it has become quite adept at conducting preventative counter-terrorism
investigations rather than just reactive ones.
In addition to the NYPD, other first-responders in New York - the fire
department, emergency medical services and transportation agencies - are
experienced and well trained in dealing with terrorist attacks and can support
security efforts surrounding the trial. Given the 9/11 experience, Manhattan
residents and workers are also well versed in emergency action plans and
preparations.
Certainly, the fact that such a high-profile trial will be held in New York
City will temporarily add to the workload of federal and municipal security and
emergency personnel, but in some ways it will be little more than a routine
effort. The city is used to high-profile events, regularly hosting such events
as the UN General Assembly, with its attendant flow of international VIPs. New
York City has been and will remain a prime terrorist target, and the people
responsible for maintaining security in the city are very good at what they do.
Indeed, Manhattan - given its recent history of civic trauma and intense focus
on counter-terrorism - may very well possess the safest civilian court in the
country.
(Published with permission from Stratfor,
a Texas-based geopolitical intelligence company. Copyright 2009 Stratfor.)
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