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WASHINGTON Republican lawmakers Friday bitterly criticized President Barack Obama's decision to try accused terrorists in the U.S. and warned against moving detainees to South Carolina.
But congressional aides said the accused mastermind of the October 2000 bombing of the USS Cole in Yemen, Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, could be detained and tried before a military panel at the Naval Weapons Station in Charleston.
Attorney General Eric Holder said four other detainees now held with al-Nashiri at the U.S. military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, will be transferred to the U.S. for military commission trials.
Rep. Gresham Barrett, a Westminster, S.C., Republican and gubernatorial candidate, said his staff is exploring possible litigation to keep Guantanamo detainees from being moved to South Carolina.
"We are going to try to engage every piece of ammunition we have to make sure these terrorists don't come to the United States," he said. "They have sworn their lives' blood to bringing death and destruction on this country. They are the worst of the worst."
"To bring them to New York City is totally unacceptable," Barrett said. "To put them in Charleston is unacceptable. To put them anywhere in America is wrong."
S.C. Attorney General Henry McMaster of Columbia, Barrett's rival for the GOP gubernatorial nomination, raised the possibility of filing suit if S.C. lawmakers in Washington don't prevent the transfer of alleged terrorists to the state.
"If our congressional delegation fails to stop President Obama from transferring terrorists to American soil, Attorney General McMaster would consider using any tool at his disposal to stop terrorist transfers to South Carolina," said Rob Godfrey, a McMaster spokesman.
Rep. Henry Brown, a Hanahan, S.C., Republican whose district includes the Naval Weapons Station, has introduced a bill to prohibit detainees from being brought to South Carolina.
Rep. Sue Myrick, a Charlotte Republican, has introduced a bill that would prohibit the use of funds to transfer or house individuals detained at Guantanamo Bay at N.C. facilities.
Other U.S. House Republicans have advanced separate legislation to block the transfer of alleged terrorists to any site in the United States.
"Trying terrorists in civilian court is one of the most dangerous and irresponsible decisions the administration could make with regard to national security," she said Friday. "The stated goal of radical Islamist terrorists is to overthrow our government, throw out our Constitution, and rule us by Shariah law. These are not people who should be given the same constitutional rights as our citizens. We have laws in place to try these terrorists pursuant to military law, and we should do so."
House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn, a Columbia Democrat, and House Budget Committee Chairman John Spratt, a York Democrat, declined to comment.
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, self-professed mastermind of the 9-11 attacks, and four other accused plotters of that assault will be brought from Guantanamo to New York for separate trials in civilian federal court, Holder said.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, who failed last week to block trials of the accused Sept. 11 plotters in civilian courts, said senior Obama aides had asked him to withhold comment on Obama's decision until the president could meet with the senator after Obama's return next week from his trip to Asia.
"As our commander in chief, I will honor his request," Graham said. "I look forward to discussing this issue further."
