A risky trial that offers little reward:

The administration is forum shopping. You can defend this as pragmatic. Use the best means available to put terrorists away, so long as you put them away - essentially, the Bush administration's approach. You cannot defend it as legally consistent or high-principled. A civilian trial for the 9/11 accused involves added risk and no judicial or political benefit. It is a mistake.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/c6eda004-d7d0-11de-b578-00144feabdc0.html?nclick_check=1

Maybe it's true that it's practical for some of the detainees not to get civilian trials. But then civilian trials should be denied to all of them. As Richard Cohen says about the inconsistency of giving civilian trials to some but not all of the detainees:

What is the principle in that? What works, works? Try putting that one on the Liberty Bell.

5th, 6th, and 14th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution, and the courts have upheld this common-sense interpretation of the Constitution.

was apparently where the high-value detainees -- including KSM -- were held secretly by the CIA. http://www.rawstory.com/news/2007/Sovietera_compound_in_Poland_was_site_0307.html

Soviet-era compound in northern Poland was site of secret CIA interrogation, detentions

POLAND -- The CIA operated an interrogation and short-term detention facility for suspected terrorists within a Polish intelligence training school with the explicit approval of British and US authorities, according to British and Polish intelligence officials familiar with the arrangements.

Intelligence officials identify the site as a component of a Polish intelligence training school outside the northern Polish village of Stare Kiejkuty. While previously suspected, the facility has never been conclusively identified as being part of the CIA's secret rendition and detention program.

Only the Polish prime minister and top Polish intelligence brass were told of the plan, in which agents of the United States quietly shuttled detainees from other holding facilities around the globe for stopovers and short-term interrogation in Poland between late 2002 and 2004.

According to a confidential British intelligence memo shown to RAW STORY, Prime Minister Tony Blair told Poland's then-Prime Minister Leszek Miller to keep the information secret, even from his own government.

“Miller was asked to keep it as tight as possible,” the memo said.

an immediate emergency (like releasing a lot of sulphur dioxide into the atmosphere)?

of maintaining American military dominance also featured.

One was the speech to the VFW on Aug. 17, 2009 in which he notoriously called the war in Afghanistan a war of necessity. That speech also contained the paragraph:

We're adopting new concepts--because the full spectrum of challenges demands a full range of military capabilities--the conventional and the unconventional, the ablilty to defeat both the armored division and the lone suicide bomber; the Intercontinental Ballistic Missile and the Improvised Explosive Device; 18th-century-style piracy and 21st century cyber threats. No matter the mission, we must maintain America's military dominance.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/aug/17/barack-obama-veterans-speech

Granted, this paragraph does not explicitly connect "full spectrum" and "dominance". But anybody with ears attuned to Pentagon terminology would realize he was signaling approval of the doctrine of full-spectrum dominance.

The other was an address earlier in the year, on May 22, to the midshipmen at the Naval Academy, which contained the following:

For history teaches us that the nations that grow comfortable with the old ways and complacent in the face of new threats, those nations do not long endure. And in the 21st century, we do not have the luxury of deciding which challenges to prepare for and which to ignore. We must overcome the full spectrum of threats -- the conventional and the unconventional; the nation-state and the terrorist network; the spread of deadly technologies and the spread of hateful ideologies; 18th century-style piracy and 21st century cyber threats.

and

We'll also ensure you can meet the missions of today, which is why we've halted reductions in Navy personnel and increased the size of the Marine Corps. And we will ensure you can meet the missions of tomorrow, which is why we're investing in the capabilities and technologies of tomorrow -- the littoral combat ships, the most advanced submarines and fighter aircraft -- so that you have what you need to succeed. In short, we will maintain America's military dominance and keep you the finest fighting force the world has ever seen. (Applause.)

http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Remarks-by-the-President-at-US-Naval-Academy-Commencement