The Obama administration’s decision to prosecute a Somali terrorism suspect apprehended abroad in federal court demonstrates the importance of US civilian courts in countering terrorism. However, Ahmed Abdulkadir Warsame should not have been held by the US military for more than two months without basic due process rights.

The Obama administration’s decision to prosecute the five men accused of plotting the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States before a military commission is a serious setback for justice. Reversing his November 2009 announcement that the men would be tried in federal court in New York, Attorney General Eric Holder announced on April 4, 2011 that the suspects will face trials before a military commission at Guantanamo Bay.

The US Senate’s passage on December 22, 2010, of a ban on the use of government funds for the transfer of Guantanamo detainees to the US, even for prosecution, will severely undermine US efforts to fight terrorism.

The US government is wrong to not criminally prosecute CIA officials who destroyed evidence of torture. The televised statements of former President George W. Bush acknowledging his personal responsibility for ordering torture demonstrate the need for the Obama administration to pursue prosecutions of senior US officials responsible for planning and authorizing the torture and ill-treatment of detainees.