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February 13, 2012
Binyamin Rose: Back to the Bunker: How a life-risking act by a Christian family during the Holocaust saved a family and built a thriving community a world away
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David G. Savage: Why activists may not be in a hurry to have High Court rule on alternative marriage
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Menachem Wecker: Though Controversial, LL.M.'s Can Lead to Specialized Legal Jobs
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February 7, 2012
Frank J. Gaffney, Jr.: Caught off-guard? President's Super Bowl interview with Matt Lauer gives those who need a reason not to vote for him, a darn good one
Suzanne Bohan: Leaping lizards! Tiny reptiles advancing robot design
February 6, 2012
Jonathan Tobin: Iran Threatens Israel With Destruction, But the New York Times Doesn't Hear It
Jeffrey Fleishman: In newly democratic Egypt, tens of democracy activists jailed, to stand trial; their groups are 'threatening the stability of the homeland'
Julie Deardorff : Researchers say antioxidants may not be that effective and could do more harm than good
Mark Clayton: How did Anonymous hackers eavesdrop on FBI and Scotland Yard?
February 3, 2012
Edmund Sanders : Israeli official says Iran is creating missile that could reach East Coast of US
Victoria Kim: Immigrant-smuggling ring used black drivers to avoid racial profiling
February 2, 2012
Jim Carney: Wrong number call may have saved her life
Reza Kahlili : Ex-CIA spy in Iran's Revolutionary Guard: What Obama doesn't grasp about striking deals with Tehran
Tina Susman: For woodchuck rescuer, every day is Groundhog Day
February 1, 2012
Brian Bennett: US officials see increasing threat of domestic attack from Iran
Emily Brandon: How to Take Advantage of New 401(k) Fee Disclosures
January 31, 2012
January 30, 2012
Paul Richter and Ramin Mostaghim: Misreading Teheran's limits -- deadly and economically devastating as they may be -- is a risk administration, Europe seem willing to take
Suzanne Bohan: Warning: Nap-deprived tots missing more than sleep, study finds
Meg Handley: Banks Revamping Rewards Programs to Woo Customers
January 27, 2012
Caroline B. Glick: Obama: Of course I intend to prevent a nuclear holocaust . . . in a few months
Yochonon Donn: In liberal New York City, fervently-Orthodox Jews may soon be getting a district to call their own
Jeannine Stein: An inflated ego and thinking you're 'all that' doesn't just make others sick of you, it can make you ill
Katy Hopkins: New budget rules may affect how much money you get for college
January 26, 2012
Ed Koch: To the New York Times, calling for the murder of Jews by those capable of having their incitement taken seriously isn't news
Jeannine Stein: Mental illness struck one in five U.S. adults in 2010: Report
January 25, 2012
Richard Simon: House passes two bills endorsing the use of religious symbols at military memorials
Fred Weir: Putin: Multiethnic Russia cannot survive as a US-style 'melting pot'; must find its own way
Susan Johnston: 5 Sneaky Coupon Strategies Consumers Should Watch Out For
January 24, 2012
Carol Clark: The price of your soul: How your brain decides whether to 'sell out'
Caroline B. Glick: America lost most in 'Arab Spring'. Sadly, many voters still don't grasp the extent
Warren Richey: Drug criminal scores win in GPS ruling from conservative-leaning high court
Erika Bolstad: Black conservatives gather to talk about gaining strength
January 23, 2012
Melissa Dribben: Jewish voters to play a key role in Florida's Republican primary
Jordan Rau: In quest to grow, Catholic hospital system will announce this morning its break from church
Ali Safi: U.S. envoy gives Taliban terms for peace talks
January 19, 2012
January 18, 2012
January 17, 2012
Frank J. Gaffney Jr.: No-kidding red lines: U.S. response to an Iranian nuke may be bluster, but Israel's won't be
David G. Savage: They sued their principals after slandering them online --- now the cases are headed to the Supreme Court
David Francis: Where to Invest in 2012: With stocks expected to rebound, opportunity abounds for investors
January 13, 2012
Ben Lynfield: Israeli lawmakers move to annex Jewish Judea, one museum at a time
Alexia Elejalde-Ruiz: Thriving through touch: Gentle massage helps older people with low mobility improve in mind and body
January 12, 2012
Warren Richey: Landmark Supreme Court ruling a 'resounding win' for religious groups
Warren Richey: Supreme Court says no to new rule on eyewitness testimony
John Fauber : Statins found to raise diabetes risk in postmenopausal women
Katy Hopkins : Consider This Before You Pay for an Online Degree
The Kosher Gourmet by Joseph Erdos: This mushroom and barley soup has an intense -- almost nutty -- flavor that mixes robust with Middle East. It has creaminess without cream
January 11, 2012
Shari Roan: Millions of atrial fibrillation sufferers at risk for devastating, but preventable, stroke
Tom Hussain: Pakistan -- recipient of more than $21 billion in civilian and military aid -- speeds pursuit of Iranian pipeline, defying US
David G. Savage: High court signals it won't be loosening TV's 'indecency' rules
Stephen Ceasar: Oklahoma's Islamic law amendment can't go into effect, court rules
January 10, 2012
Reza Kahlili: From an ex-CIA spy: US must exploit new split in Iran's Revolutionary Guard
Karen Kaplan: Study: Nicotine replacement products ineffective when used in real-life situations
January 9, 2012
Michael Doyle: Put through legal hell over dream home, couple fought back hard --- all the way to Supreme Court
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Jewish World Review
Sept. 7, 2009
/ 18 Elul 5769
Political considerations produce contradictory justice
By
Jonathan Gurwitz
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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
If you're a terrorist who attacks the United States, you're entitled to a pardon. If you're a member of the intelligence community with the responsibility to protect the United States against terrorist attack, you're entitled to be the victim of prosecutorial double jeopardy. That is the reprehensible and incomprehensible record of U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder.
As deputy attorney general in the Clinton administration, Holder was responsible for securing Justice Department approval of President Bill Clinton's pardon of 16 members of the Puerto Rican terrorist group Fuerzas Armadas de Liberación Nacional. The FALN was responsible for more than 130 bombings in the United States between 1974 and 1983. The most infamous attack, the bombing of the historic Fraunces Tavern in New York in 1975, killed four people and injured scores of others.
Prior to 1999, the Justice Department's Office of the Pardon Attorney, the FBI and federal prosecutors were in unanimity opposing pardons for FALN terrorists. But as a January investigative report from the Los Angeles Times revealed, "Holder instructed his staff at Justice's Office of the Pardon Attorney to effectively replace the department's original report recommending against any commutations, which had been sent to the White House in 1996, with one that favored clemency for at least half the prisoners."
Joseph Connor, whose father was murdered in the Fraunces Tavern bombing, notes that in 3,039 out of 3,042 prior cases, the Clinton administration denied requests for clemency. In this case, FALN terrorists serving fewer than 20 years of 35- to 105-year terms hadn't even sought pardons. So why the sudden urgency to change Justice Department policy in 1999 and grant them pardons?
As with Clinton's other controversial pardons, the answer has nothing to do with justice and everything to do with politics. Hillary Clinton was gearing up a campaign for a New York Senate seat, Al Gore one for the presidency, and the White House viewed the pardons as a way to ingratiate Team Clinton players with Puerto Rican voters.
Congress condemned the FALN pardons by votes of 95-2 in the Senate and 311-41 in the House. At his confirmation hearing in January, Holder continued to defend them as being "reasonable."
No doubt, the same sense of reason informed Holder's decision to appoint a federal prosecutor to re-investigate allegations of CIA detainee abuse in the war against al-Qaida. The CIA inspector general investigated those claims in 2003. Career prosecutors at the Justice Department and in the U.S. attorney's office for the Eastern District of Virginia examined the evidence in 2005. That resulted in a single prosecution of a CIA contractor.
Yet now, Holder with the blessing of President Barack Obama wants to renew the possibility that the people who interrogated 9-11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and other hardened terrorists might go to prison. Why the sudden urgency to change Justice Department policy in 2009?
Again, the answer has nothing to do with justice and everything to do with politics. The rabid left still wants to claim its Bush administration scalps, the morale of the men and women in the intelligence community and the security of the nation be damned. And, as with the pardons of the FALN terrorists, Holder is happy to serve as Team Obama's political hatchet man.
Perhaps a compelling case can be made to go after those who went face to face with the terrorists who attacked the United States on Sept. 11, 2001. But Eric Holder has no business making that case.
Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.
Comment by clicking here.
JWR contributor Jonathan Gurwitz, a columnist for the San Antonio Express-News, is a co-founder and twice served as Director General of the Future Leaders of the Alliance program at NATO Headquarters in Brussels, Belgium. In 1986 he was placed on the Foreign Service Register of the U.S. State Department.
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© 2009, Jonathan Gurwitz
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