OPINION:
What really drives me crazy about the Obama administration not labeling the surviving Boston Marathon bomber an enemy combatant is that this administration always seems to bend over backwards to give these terrorists every advantage over us, even when they already have every advantage to kill innocent Americans.
These terrorists come to America and blend in, enjoying all the rights and liberties that a free citizen enjoys. While they plot to kill Americans, they don’t wear enemy uniforms to distinguish themselves on the “battlefield,” and they clearly have no problem with targeting a mass-population area to create as much murder and mayhem as possible. Does this seem like the kind of perpetrator who deserves the right of a fair trial?
What’s more, recall the 2010 would-be Times Square bomber who failed at a similar attempt of mass murder and mayhem. He was a naturalized American citizen who took the oath of loyalty to the United States, and when questioned on it by a judge simply said he “didn’t mean it.” In other words, a sacred oath to our God and country was meaningless to him — and likely to all jihadists.
So what’s the point of giving these terrorists Miranda rights and bringing them to trial when, if they take the stand, their cause for jihad will far supersede anything that they swore under oath? If they ever were to take the stand, they will, of course, lie through their teeth and do everything they can to make a mockery out of our judicial system.
I say the answer is crystal clear. Anyone, foreign or not, citizen or not, who commits a terrorist attack against America, waives whatever civil rights he may be entitled to and is automatically considered an enemy combatant. We can’t take away every advantage a terrorist exploits against our free society. However, shouldn’t we at least curb whatever advantage he has and make it a more level playing field if we can?
By issuing Miranda rights to the surviving Boston Marathon terrorism suspect, it’s like the Obama administration is bending over backwards to emphasize its claim after the killing of Osama bin Laden that the war on terrorism has been won — when it clearly hasn’t.
EUGENE DUNN
Medford, N.Y.
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