McConnell: Kentucky terror suspects should be tried in military court

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell described two men arrested in Kentucky and charged with conspiring to send weapons and money to al Qaeda in Iraq as “enemy combatants” and called for them to be tried by a military commission.

“Foreigners are not entitled to be tried in the U.S. court system,” McConnell argued Sunday morning on CBS’ “Face the Nation.”

{mosads}The arrests in Bowling Green, Kentucky have set up a clash between the Justice Department which intends to prosecute the suspects in civilian court and Sen. McConnell who wants them sent to Guantanamo and tried by the military.

“The things that they’re accused of doing are in Iraq, their fingerprints were found on IEDs in Iraq. They got into this country as a mistake” said McConnell.

“The attorney general said the other night our biggest weapon in the war on terror was the U.S. civilian court system. I don’t know what planet he’s living on,” added the senator.

“If Osama bin Laden were alive today I think he would say our biggest weapon was U.S. Navy SEALs.”

{mosads}The two suspects, Waad Ramadan Alwan and Mohanad Shareef Hammadi, were living as refugees in Kentucky when they were caught in an FBI-sting operation. 

According to an AP report, the FBI alleges that Alwan claimed to have taken part in insurgent attacks on American troops in Iraq.

“They ought to be tried in military commissions. This is a no-brainer.” Sen. McConnell stressed.