The mixed verdict in the case of the first Guant\u00c3\u00a1namo detainee to be tried in a civilian court on Wednesday quickly re-ignited a fierce debate over the Obama administration\u2019s effort to restore the role of the traditional criminal justice system in handling terrorism prosecutions.<\/p>\n
Ahmed Ghailani will face between 20 years and life in prison as a result of his conviction on one charge related to the 1998 embassy bombings in Africa. But because a jury acquitted him on more than 280 other charges — including every count of murder — critics of the Obama administration\u2019s strategy on detainees said the verdict proved that civilian courts could not be trusted to handle the prosecution of Al Qaeda terrorists.<\/p>\n
“This is a tragic wake-up call to the Obama Administration to immediately abandon its ill-advised plan to try Guant\u00c3\u00a1namo terrorists\u201d\u009d in federal civilian courts, said Representative Peter King, Republican of New York. \u201cWe must treat them as wartime enemies and try them in military commissions at Guant\u00c3\u00a1namo.\u201d\u009d<\/p>\n