US Constitution vs. Alleged Terrorists

On the subject of international terrorists who are not US Citizens, the debate is relatively clear. They do not qualify for Constitutional protections. They declared a war on the US. They are subject to the Law of Land Warfare. They are military combatants. They are prisoners of war. Even as such, they receive far more humane and just treatment with a level of due process than they gave US Citizens such as Nick Berg and SSG Matthew Maupin.

When the debate comes to US citizens who conduct acts of terrorism against the US and its citizens on US Soil, the debate should be just as cut and dry.

However, some, including a couple of US Senators, have claimed otherwise. To some, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev should be treated like an enemy combatant regardless of his US Citizenship. Senator Graham and Senator McCain have both made statements to the effect that he should be interrogated like a POW. Tsarnaev was natruralized over a year ago and is even legally registered to vote. 

This issue comes down to our country's most foundational beliefs. The US Constitution is the supreme law of the land. It is the document that governs the government, telling it what it is allowed to do. To insure that it doesn't overstep those bounds, the Bill of Rights explicitly states many of the natural rights the base document heavily implied as the most important individual rights that no law-abiding human should ever be deprived of by any government.

Among those are the First, Third, Fourth, and Fifth Amendment protections that are further guarded by the Second Amendment (which allows citizens to defend against such a tyranny that would attempt to take them).

If we are to deprive Tsarnaev of these rights, then authorities should storm in and arrest domestic terrorist Bill Ayers and do the same. Ayers detonated explosive devices at the US Pentagon as well as several police headquarters buildings across the US. 

If they suspend those rights of Tsarnaev, they need to do the same for convicted Speedway Bomber, Brett Kimberline, His acts were along the same line. 

Kimberline received a fair trial and was convicted. Ayers received due process and had the case against him thrown out because the FBI and other investigators violated his 4th Amendment rights. 

McVeigh was tried and convicted. He received the death penalty. 

So why not Tsarnaev?

To not give Tsarnaev due process, his constitutional protections, and his day in court is to give whatever terrorist groups he is affiliated with exactly what they want. 

They want to undermine the US Constitution. They want to prove us as hypocrites who do not obey our own laws. They want to prove our Constitution an abomination. They want us to kneel before the whims of their tyrannical "caliphate" and religious laws rather than the natural laws our Constitution is structured to protect.  

They want us to capitulate and submit.

Holding this US Citizen accountable through the very due process we hold so dear is fighting for our way of life. It is holding to the truths we hold self-evident. 

It is the right, just, honorable, and intelligent thing to do. 

To no do so is to capitulate and submit to their rules. It is to let them win.

NEVER!