In January, when most of attorney General Eric Holder's friends and enemies turned against his plan to try 9/11 mastermind Kha-lid Sheikh Mohammed in a federal courthouse in lower Manhattan, one man stood by him. And he was a good friend to have. At a Situation Room session on Jan. 29, Holder was virtually alone in arguing for sticking with a civilian trial for KSM. A Manhattan jury, he said, would produce a quick conviction-and that image would help restore America's reputation in the world. When others in the room argued in favor of military tribunals with special rules favoring the government, it was Barack Obama who took Holder's side, saying that shifting to tribunals would damage the probity of the American justice system.
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