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The Obama administration is under fire after news leaked of a possible shift in the trial of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed.
The Washington Post reports key presidential advisors are urging that the trial of alleged 9/11 mastermind and 4 other suspects be moved back from the civilian courts to a military tribunal.
We're looking at perspectives from CBS, MSNBC, The Washington Post and The Hill.
Critics are calling the potential change a major reversal in the Obama administration's political agenda.
On CBS's The Early Show, chief legal correspondent Jan Crawford says failure to deliver on a civilian trial could hurt the administration.
“This was the single biggest break from the Bush administration on these war and terror policies. The Attorney General Eric Holder, in an appearance on Capitol Hill, told senators, 'Failure was not an option — these cases must be won, this was the course they were going to pursue. So now to see them retreat on this is a failure, it is a failure to get through a major policy shift."
Still more criticism has focused on news President Obama could use the move as a bargaining chip to secure funding and legal authority needed to shut down Guantanamo Bay's military prison.
In a Washington Post article the Defense Department's acting chief defense counsel says the reversal would be a "sad day for the rule of law."
"I thought the decision where to put people on trial -- whether federal court or military commissions -- was based on what was right, not what is politically advantageous."
On the blog The Hill, a public policy professor argues for the use of military courts.
"This is not a “Geneva convention” type war. These people want to destroy us and will use any means necessary. Civil trials merely provide extremists with a pulpit to propagandize while exposing our civilian system to additional terrorists' threats."
An analyst for MSNBC disagrees and says the trials need to stay exactly where they were promised.
“If you believe that the military commission is going to create a higher percentage of confidence, that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed can be convicted and be sent away for life, then fine go that way. The U.S. system and southern district of New York has a 100 percent conviction rate on terror trials. So we need to make sure the facts here are understood by everyone before we start talking about the political reality of why the White House is going in this direction.”
President Obama has yet to comment on the issue. Press Secretary Robert Gibbs told the media that no decision has been made.
Writer: Maurice Scarborough
Producer: Newsy Staff
