Score one for Democracy

IF, AS OUR former president used to say, the terrorists "hate us for our freedom," then why are some Americans afraid of showing the world how "our freedom" actually works?

We applaud Attorney General Eric Holder's decision to try self-described 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheik Muhammed and four other alleged conspirators in a civilian courtroom in the same venue where the crimes were committed: New York City. But we wonder why five other terrorism suspects will be tried in military tribunals. Verdicts arrived at in secret trials will always be suspect.

Following Holder's announcement Friday, opponents of President Obama staged a politically opportune freak-out. They fear:

* It's too dangerous and scary to bring five manacled men here, even though they will be heavily guarded. Yet this is exactly how the terrorists who plotted the first World Trade Center bombing in 1993 were tried. Other countries do the same: The terrorists responsible for the 2004 bombings in Madrid and London were tried in open court in . . . Madrid and London. Are critics imagining some sort of Wild West jail break? Would the suspects escape on the subway?

* The trial will allow the defendants to present an actual defense. They might spout some of their crazy ideology out loud, making the proceedings "a circus." Are critics so unsure of the superiority of our democratic values that they don't believe we can take it? (For sure, the rest of the world has already heard what they have to say.)

* A trial in Manhattan will expose it to a terrorist attack. First off, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg says city security is up to the task. (Besides, it could be at least a year, if not more, before the trial begins.) But really, wouldn't this be al Qaeda's ultimate victory, to render us so frightened we could no longer function?

All the cowering from conservatives embarrassed former conservative Republican U.S. Rep. Bob Barr, Libertarian presidential candidate David Keene and Grover Norquist, chairman of the American Conservative Union. They issued a statement saying, "The scaremongering about these issues should stop," and "civilian courts are the proper forum for terrorism cases."

Predictably, it's the grandstanders that rail against any sign of American "weakness" - for example, diplomacy - who are so publicly terrified at the prospect of living in a free country. *