We were thinking to ourselves why would the United States not quickly bring to trial and if appropriate execute these terrorists. We decided to look at how President Franklin Delano Roosevelt handled a similar situation in WWII. Here is what history tells us according to Wikipedia.

When the United States entered World War II, Adolf Hitler ordered German saboteurs [terrorists] to wreak havoc on the country. The responsibility for carrying this out was given to German Intelligence (Abwehr). In June 1942, eight agents were recruited and divided into two teams: the first, commanded by George John Dasch, with Ernest Burger, Heinrich Heinck and Richard Quirin. The second, under the command of Edward Kerling, with Hermann Neubauer, Werner Thiel and Herbert Haupt.

On June 12, 1942, U-Boat U-202 landed Dasch's team with explosives and plans at East Hampton, Long Island, New York. Their mission was to destroy power plants at Niagara Falls and three Aluminum Company of America (ALCOA) factories in Illinois, Tennessee and New York. However, the team was observed following landing by a Coast Guardsman who immediately raised the alarm. After being captured, Dasch and Burger gave a full confession to the FBI and obtained more lenient treatment.

Kerling's team landed from U-584 at Ponte Vedra Beach (25 miles [40 km] south-east of Jacksonville, Florida), on June 17. They were tasked with laying mines in four areas: the Pennsylvania Railroad in Newark NJ., canal sluices in both St. Louis and Cincinnati, and New York City's water supply pipes. The team made their way to Cincinnati, Ohio and split up, with two going to Chicago, Illinois and the others to New York. However, the Dasch confession led to the arrest of all of the men by July 10.

All eight were tried and convicted by Military Commission. President Roosevelt approved the sentences. The constitutionality of the military commissions was upheld by the Supreme Court in Ex parte Quirin and six of the eight men were executed by electrocution on August 8. Dasch and Burger were given thirty-year prison sentences. Both were released in 1948 and deported to Germany. Dasch (aka George Davis), who had been a longtime American resident prior to the war, suffered a difficult life in Germany after his return from U.S. custody due to his cooperation with U.S. authorities. As a condition of his deportation, he was not permitted to return to the United States, even though he spent many years writing letters to prominent American authorities (J. Edgar Hoover, President Eisenhower, etc.) requesting permission to return. He eventually fled to Switzerland and wrote a book, titled Eight Spies Against America.

There you have it. FDR captured all eight German terrorists by July 10, 1942. He created Military Commissions, had the U.S. Supreme Court bless the Commissions, held the trials, and executed 6 of the 8 terrorists by August 8, 1942.

Thirty days from capture to execution. Now that's what I call swift justice.

By the way, the current Military Commissions are based upon those created by FDR in 1942.

Why haven't we moved this quickly to deal with the very deadly and dangerous terrorists being held in Guantanamo, Cuba? Because we are in fact a nation of laws. Even though we are at war we are providing these terrorists with all the legal, moral and responsible opportunities to defend themselves under international laws.

As Colonel Morris D. "Mo" Davis, USAF (Ret.) the former head prosecutor said, ""Some imply that if a defendant does not get a trial that looks like Martha Stewart’s and ends like O. J. Simpson’s, then military commissions are flawed. They are mistaken. The Constitution does not extend to alien unlawful enemy combatants. They are entitled to protections under Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions, which ensures they are afforded “all the judicial guarantees which are recognized as indispensable by civilized peoples.”

"Justice John Paul Stevens, in the Hamdan decision that rejected an earlier plan for military commissions, observed that Article 75 of the Additional Protocol to the Geneva Conventions defines the judicial guarantees recognized as indispensable. A comparison of Article 75 and the Military Commissions Act of 2006 shows military commissions provide the fundamental guarantees."

Keeping enemy combatants in prison makes perfect sense to you and me. Letting them out means they will just go back to doing the only thing they know - killing Americans. Even the Herald-Tribune editorial board recognizes this when they point out, "A former detainee, transferred to Kuwait for trial and later acquitted, was involved [in] a deadly suicide bombing in Iraq last month, the U.S. military confirmed Wednesday [May 7, 2008]."

As for using Club GITMO as a propaganda tool, so what. What do you expect those who plot each and every day to kill our soldiers, innocent Muslim men, women and children, and anyone else who get in their way to do?

Guantanamo is a shining example of the slow, sometimes tedious and lengthy, process of bringing terrorists to justice. Defense lawyers, including those from the ACLU, are tying up the process with appeals. The Supreme Court is involved, again. Colonel "Mo" Davis called, "the Supreme Court's intention to review the Military Commissions Act "meddling": "This constant uncertainty and meddling certainly takes a toll on people, It would be nice to have some certainty for a change."

GITMO mirrors our own criminal justice system, which takes years to convict and decades to finally put to death the most horrible murders.

Our take is the Sarasota Herald-Tribune is using this issue as a political hammer to bash Bush. All three Presidential candidates have said they will close GITMO down. That is nice but does not do anything to speed up the clear need for swift justice in the case of these radical Islamic terrorists.

Where is FDR when you need him?