WASHINGTON - Self-proclaimed Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four other Guantanamo Bay detainees will be sent to New York to face trial in a civilian federal court, officials said Friday.

NBC News confirmed that Attorney General Eric Holder plans to announce the decision later in the morning. ..

The New York case may also force the court system to confront a host of difficult legal issues surrounding counter-terrorism programs begun after the 2001 attacks, including the harsh interrogation techniques once used on some of the suspects while in CIA custody. The most severe method -- waterboarding, or simulated drowning -- was used on Mohammed 183 times in 2003, before the practice was banned.

Indeed, this trial, while I'm sure will be a long one, it may also finally bring to light what was done to these men in the name of Homeland Security and the War on Terror authorized by those in the Bush/Cheney administration.

Could this one man's trail be the catalyst that breaks the camel's back?  By holding this man's trial in New York; the court's actions will face the scrutiny of the media on an hourly basis.  What sort of defense do you suppose Mohammed's attorney will put forth?  I'm sure they will say, "Not Guilty your honor".

Can't you hear Mohammed's attorney now, "Mr Mohammed was beaten, thrashed, physically tortured by his interrogators," Mr Mohammed's lawyer,  told the reporters. "Under this fear he recorded his so-called confession."

For example, remember this case,

The man alleged to be the sole survivor of the terrorist team that carried out the Mumbai attacks told a court yesterday that his confession -- which hints at the involvement of the Pakistan state in the atrocity -- was beaten out of him by police.

Mohammed Ajmal Amir Kasab is accused of being one of ten highly trained Islamist militants who raided Mumbai in a commando-style strike that lasted three days in November. He faces 166 counts of murder and is accused of waging war on India; crimes that carry the death penalty...

"Kasab was beaten, thrashed, physically tortured by police," Mr Kasab's lawyer, Abbas Kazmi, a veteran defence council in high-profile terror cases, told The Times. "Under this fear he recorded his so-called confession."

Mr Kazmi said that Mr Kasab does not want to plead guilty and intends to fight the case."

As you may know I've been pushing for a full investigation by a special prosecutor of the way the Bush/Cheney administration handled prisoners and the way they spied on American citizens over the past 8 years. 

I'm no lawyer but it sure would seem that it would be entirely appropriate for the defense attorney for Mohammed to bring out the details of the way the man was tortured and harassed into confessing or saying things that were not true with the authority given by President George W Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney, the Pentagon and the attorney general and specific members of Congress.

I'm also guessing but you would think that the defense attorney would be allowed to demand the right to ask questions of these interrogators and anyone else that was involved with the torturing of his defendant.  Could it be possible that the attorney could demand to speak to George W Bush or even Dick Cheney about authorizing such torture?

Forget about this specific crime that Mohammed committed for a moment and imagine being arrested for a crime such as a murder of a governor.  This is a huge political crime and could make the prosecutor famous if he wins it.  The police capture and arrest you and take you to the jailhouse.  The detectives and the prosecutor in charge, in order to win this huge political case, authorizes the police to torture you into confessing or giving up names of others involved.  Now imagine not being able to tell the jury this information as your own defense; not going to happen. 

If the lawyer has proof, or thinks he can get it by forcing a few people to take the oath and swear to tell the truth about any such torture or abuse, that judge will most likely allow the testimony.

So my friends, I'm betting that Mohammed's attorney will be demanding to speak to a those interrogators that waterboarded his defendant.  I'm betting the truth will finally come out.

Will the man get found 'not guilty' because of this truth coming out; probably not?  I doubt Attorney General Holder and yes even President Obama, would risk holding this trial in United States, because of this possible defense's actions, if they didn't have other proof that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed was indeed guilty of masterminding the 9/11 attacks.

Yes indeed folks, I'm finally getting a bit excited about the thought of having this trial held here in the United States instead of behind closed doors in a military trial where the facts would be forever hidden - as George W Bush and Dick Cheney would much rather have happen.