Flashback: Holder, Obama Expressed Supreme Confidence Over Terror Trials

Guy Benson | November 18, 2010 9:33 AM

A partial roundup of reckless predictions and foolish bravado from the US Attorney General regarding the Ghailani trial:

May 21, 2009:

"By prosecuting Ahmed Ghailani in federal court, we will ensure that he finally answers for his alleged role in the bombing of our embassies in Tanzania and Kenya," said Attorney General Eric Holder. "This administration is committed to keeping the American people safe and upholding the rule of law, and by closing Guantanamo and bringing terrorists housed there to justice we will make our nation stronger and safer."

June 9, 2009:

"With his appearance in federal court today, Ahmed Ghailani is being held accountable for his alleged role in the bombing of U.S. Embassies in Tanzania and Kenya and the murder of 224 people," said Attorney General Eric Holder. "The Justice Department has a long history of securely detaining and successfully prosecuting terror suspects through the criminal justice system, and we will bring that experience to bear in seeking justice in this case."

November 18, 2009:

"And at the end of the day, it was clear to me that the venue in which we are most likely to obtain justice for the American people is in federal court."
Asked what might happen if the suspects are acquitted, Holder replied: "Failure is not an option. These are cases that have to be won. I don't expect that we will have a contrary result."

And to cap it off, a word from the President of the United States:

"(What) I think we have to break is this fearful notion that somehow our justice system can't handle these guys," Obama said.

Yesterday's chilling wake-up call and the White House's recent, muted admission that KSM and other hardened jihadists will likely face indefinite detention at Guantanamo Bay for the "foreseeable future" are indications that President Obama has embraced the very "fearful notion" be pledged to break in an interview conducted one year ago today.