Hey, if you fight for the enemy . . .

AP: U.S. Citizen May Be Handed Over to Iraqis---

WASHINGTON - The U.S. government wants an Iraqi court to prosecute an American citizen who is being held in Iraq on suspicion that he is a senior operative of insurgent leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

The man's lawyers said he is innocent and likely to be tortured if handed over.

The case is the first known instance in which the government has decided to allow an American to be tried in the new Iraqi legal system. At least four other U.S. citizens suspected of aiding the insurgency had been held in Iraq, the Pentagon has said.

Shawqi Omar, 44, who once served in the Minnesota National Guard, has been held since late 2004 in U.S.-run military prisons as an enemy combatant. He has not been charged with a crime or been given access to a lawyer, said Jonathan Hafetz, a lawyer representing Omar's family in the United States.

The government said Omar, who also holds Jordanian citizenship, was harboring an Iraqi insurgent and four Jordanian fighters at the time of his arrest and also had bomb-making materials. He is described in court papers as a relative of Zarqawi who was plotting to kidnap foreigners from Baghdad hotels.

If Omar committed a crime in Iraq, against Iraq, he ought to be handed over to the Iraqis. They have the right to try him according to their laws (isn't that the sort of attitude liberals usually have?). If he didn't want to face the possiblity of "torture," etc., he shouldn't have committed crimes. Makes sense, I think.

I still think "Jihad Johnny" Walker Lindh ought to have been turned over, or at least given a really tough, tough (perhaps even the death penalty) sentence for his TREASON.

If American citizens want to fight for al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups, then they better be prepared to pay the price when caught. No whining.