Without a doubt, the worst thing about holding the 9/11 terrorist trials in civil court is the violation of international principles of war.

The Laws of War have been around in some form, probably for as long as civilization has existed. The Laws of War are part of the Laws of Nations, which in 1776 was synonymous with the Laws of Nature. One of the founding of principles of the United States is the immanence of the Laws of Nature as a core value in forming our republic.  The Laws of War today are embodied best in the principles of Geneva Convention.

When the extremists in the Obama administration made the horrible mistake of choosing to hold the the terrorist trials in civil court, they threw the Geneva Conventions, the Laws of War, the Laws of Nature, and by default the Declaration of Independence into the trash bin. Soldiers at time of war are tried in martial courts according to the Laws of War. All reasonable nations do so.

The Laws of War prevent soldiers at time of war from being tried according to the standards of whatever civil court may exist. In some nations, the civil courts may be kangaroo courts set up by a dictatorship. The Laws of War are intended to help protect dutiful soldiers from such monstrosities. They grant some degree of civility to war.

As a matter of simple reciprocity other nations do not have to respect the rights of our soldiers with respect to the Laws of War, since we have made it clear we do not respect the rights of foreign combatants.  We have broken our agreement to follow the Geneva Convention.

The most basic human right of foreign combatants, to be tried according to the Laws of War and not the civil laws of their enemy nation, has been violated. 

The decision to hold the 9/11 terrorist trials was a grave mistake, and a black mark against America that we will spend decades trying to live down.

If Barack Obama has any American act to apologize for, it is his own open violation the principles of the Laws of War.

See: Terrorism and the Law of War: Trying Terrorists as War Criminals before Military Commissions

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