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The Oval

So much for that civilian trial of accused 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed.

A federal jury's decision to acquit Gitmo detainee Ahmed Ghailani on all but one charge may well kill off any Obama administration plan to try KSM and other terrorist suspects in civilian courts.

"The Ghailani trial was supposed to be a test case for future trials of 9/11 terrorists," said a statement from a group named Keep America Safe, which includes prominent conservatives such as William Kristol and Liz Cheney.

"This result isn't just embarrassing," said the statement. "It's dangerous. It signals weakness in a time of war."

The Obama Justice Department stressed that Ghailani faces a long prison sentence for his conviction on one count related to the 1998 embassy bombings in Africa, The jury acquitted him on more 284 other charges, including every murder count.

"We respect the jury's verdict and are pleased that Ahmed Ghailani now faces a minimum of 20 years in prison and a potential life sentence for his role in the embassy bombings," said Matthew Miller, a spokesman for the Department of Justice.

U.S. District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan told the jurors, "you deserve a lot of credit."

"You have demonstrated also that American justice can be delivered calmly, deliberately and fairly, by ordinary people," Kaplan said. " people who are not beholden to any government, including this one."

Aspects of the war on terror begun during the George W. Bush played a major role in the trial, and underscore the complications of any civilian trial for KSM.

From The Washington Post:

Analysis of the verdict is likely to focus on the decision of Kaplan to exclude a Tanzanian whom the prosecution had described as a potentially "giant witness." The man was expected to say that he sold Ghailani explosives used in the attack.

But the judge ruled that the government learned of the witness only through the use of coercive interrogations at CIA prisons and that the participation of the witness would taint the process.

It's been more than year since the Obama administration announced plans to try Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and other 9/11 defendants in civil court in New York City.

Vehement objections delayed that plan, and now there are reports that KSM will remain in military detention indefinitely.

One of the most prominent critics of a KSM civilian trial, U.S. Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., called the Ghailani trial "a tragic wake-up call to the Obama administration."

He also noted that Republicans will soon take control of the U.S. House, are in a better position to block a civilian trial for KSM or another 9/11 defendant.

"They couldn't come close to getting that done when the Democrats were in charge," King said. "There's no way they're going to get it now that Republicans are in charge."

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(Posted by David Jackson)