Barack Obama’s Terrorist Dilemma

Yesterday, it was announced in the U.S. that the charges were pressed against the Somali citizen, Ahmed Abdulkadir Warsame. He became the first foreign terror suspect to be moved to the U.S. for trial. U.S. officials did inform him of his right to remain silent and to have a lawyer, though only after a few weeks of interrogations by military investigators and security officials. Experts are talking about the Obama administration’s half-hearted approach to dealing with terrorist suspects.

Ahmed Abdulkadir Warsame was captured on April 19 by U.S. forces in the Gulf of Aden. As announced yesterday, he has been indicted for nine crimes and as a result, the young Somali could spend the rest of life in prison. It has not been announced in which country he will be jailed. However, it is clear that he will be tried in New York Federal Court. According to the Washington Post, he is the first foreign terrorist suspect to be captured by the administration outside of the United States and then moved to this country for trial.

Little is known about Warsame. He’s not yet 30. U.S. media either calls him the leader of Al-Shabab (a militant Islamist group involved in the armed conflict against the government of Somalia), or a link between Al-Shabab and the Yemen-based al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula. Everybody in Washington agrees that Warsame is an “important target.”

After his arrest in April on a fishing boat, he was taken to a U.S. warship. He has been interrogated daily over the last few weeks by military personnel and secret service officials. He was willing to cooperate. U.S. officials said that only permissible methods of interrogation were used, approved by the Pentagon and following the Geneva Conventions. Meanwhile, Washington officials were deciding what to do next with the detainee; to release him, move him to a third country, let the war tribunal try him, or transfer the case to civil court. In the end, it was agreed to try Warsame in civil court in order to more easily prove him guilty on all nine counts, which include conspiracy and providing material aid to terror organizations such as Al-Shabab and the Yemen-based branch of al-Qaida. Prosecutors, however, do not have iron proof that Warsame planned terror attacks against the U.S.

Image-wise, the situation is unclear. President Obama has tried from the very beginning to keep his distance from the scandalous politics of the CIA’s “black prisons,” secret detentions and interrogations, which were practiced under the Bush administration. He even promised to close down the U.S. prison for terror suspects in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, but never followed through. In regards to Warsame’s case, the Obama administration has not yet decided what to do with terror suspects that are captured by U.S. forces. Thus, after a small break, followed by military interrogations, civil investigators were sent to Warsame to tell him about his right to remain silent and to answer questions only with lawyer. Warsame waived his rights and continued talking, meaning his statements can be taken to civil court.

Attorneys criticize the Obama administration’s half-hearted approach. According to John Sifton, attorney at law, U.S. officials have detained criminals such as Warsame for an indefinite period of time, depriving them of the right to a lawyer, and using controversial interpretations of war laws since the Bush era. On the other hand, Washington’s approach is more sophisticated now; official charges are pressed against a suspect because Federal Justice is better prepared than military officials to conduct trials.

Sifton thinks, however, that from the point of view of the law, the situation is unsatisfactory. On Capitol Hill, many lawmakers are against Obama’s decision about Warsame and speak against moving terror suspects to the U.S. for trials, calling it a dangerous business. Special discontent among Republicans was caused by the Obama administration’s post factum announcement about Warsame’s arrival in New York.