Posting at Volokh Conspiracy, Professor Eric Posner of the University of Chicago law school  has offered up the most cogent explanation yet for Attorney General Holder's decision to try the 9/11 co-conspirators in a civil trial in New York:Eric Posner November 18, 2009 12:27 pm The answer is not "the rule of law."  According to the WSJ, Holder said:The 9/11 attacks were both an act of war and a violation of our federal criminal law, and they could have been prosecuted in either federal courts or military commissions.So the U.S. government has the option to try suspected members of Al Qaeda in civilian court or in military court.  The "rule of law," then, does not compel traditional civilian-court protections.  However, the question remains unanswered.  To say that one has an option is not to say why one exercised that option as one did.Then what is the answer?  It is surely this: the Obama administration has decided to offer a...(Read Full Post)