Germany: Turning French on the U.S.

Germany ... I love Germany ... They're a great ally of ours; however, it seems that presently they're "goin' French" on us.  The AP via FoxNews is reporting that the German Justice Ministry will be sending an observer to the 9/11 trials to ensure that none of its evidence will be used to help the U.S. government apply the death penalty (emphasis in bold and snarky comments in italics added):

Germany Concerned Its Evidence to Be Used to Back 

Death Penalty in 9/11 Trial

by AP

A German government official says the nation will send an observer to the upcoming trial in New York of the professed mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks and four accused henchmen.

Justice Ministry spokeswoman Katharina Jahntz on Saturday confirmed a report in Der Spiegel that a German observer would attend the trial to ensure that no evidence provided by Germany would be used to apply the death penalty.

Three of the four suicide pilots who carried out the attacks had lived and studied in the northern German city of Hamburg. Germany, like the rest of Europe, except for Belarus, does not execute criminals.

U.S. authorities announced last week that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed would be tried by a New York court. No date has been set, but the choice of a civilian court rather than a military tribunal set off heated debate within the United States.

President Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder firmly rejected such criticism Wednesday, predicting that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed would be exposed as a murderous coward, convicted and executed.

"Failure is not an option," Holder declared.  [Famous last words ...]

The president, in a series of TV interviews during his trip to Asia, said those offended by the legal rights accorded Mohammed by virtue of his facing a civilian trial rather than a military tribunal will not find it "offensive at all when he's convicted and when the death penalty is applied to him."

Obama, who is a lawyer, quickly added that he did not mean to suggest he was prejudging the outcome of Mohammed's trial.  [Oh, yeah?  This from the guy that said the Cambridge cops acted stupidly?]

"I'm not going to be in that courtroom," he said. "That's the job of the prosecutors, the judge and the jury." ...

Germany's fearfulness will only add to the upcoming circus that the KSM trial will become, now that it will be held in civilian rather than military courts.