Thanks Again, Grey Lady

The rancor and belligerence surrounding the decision to try the 9/11 conspirators in New York is regrettable. Yet, there are still those out there who will practice good manners in the debate. For example, in the interests of hearing all positions on the matter, the New York Times editorial page has politely waived any elitist or arrogant demands that writers of letters to the editor maintain an attachment to facts in their letters, so long as they represent a constituency that has some symbolic connection to the attacks.

The plan to bring the terrorists to New York City is an abomination and easily the most pernicious step the Obama administration has taken to date. It is almost certain that such a monumentally misguided decision will have a chilling and deleterious effect not only on our ability to prosecute current and future detainees, but also on our ability to prosecute the overall war on terror. These are war criminals, not American citizens.

The reason you have a Guantánamo in the first place is to avoid the circus that this will inevitably become. In so doing, the president has placed politics above principle and consequently has violated his most sacred oath: the protection of American citizens.

James McCaffrey
Yonkers, Nov. 14, 2009

The writer is a lieutenant in the New York Fire Department and a 9/11 family member.

Only an ill-bred jerk would point out that the President makes no oath to defend Americans, but only to defend the Constitution.