Quote Originally Posted by LawVol
Okay, if we agree that terrorists are really criminals and should be treated as such, shouldn't we then prosecute a war rather than fight a war? In other words, in a post-Iraq world, wouldn't we be better off pursuing some type of high-intensity law enforcement strategy to capture them? Slapout and I have discussed this before. Although there are definitely international law issues to address, I see something along the lines of how the Isrealis capture Adolph Eichmann and tried him.
Here's a 14 Nov 07 article from WINEP that talks to a piece of the issue:

How to Handle Terrorist Suspects: No Easy Answer
.....A wide variety of factors have contributed to the problems in terrorism prosecutions in both the United States and Europe because each case has presented unique challenges. Prosecuting activity that is not tied to a specific attack or plot can be especially difficult. In these often complex, document-intensive cases, persuading a jury that the individuals were actually supporting terrorism can be an uphill battle. For example, in the HLF case, prosecutors struggled to persuade a jury that the defendants should be convicted of funding groups tied to Hamas, since these groups were not themselves designated as terrorist organizations. Plot-specific cases present problems of their own, however -- in the Moussaoui case, the most difficult issue was his request for access to captured al-Qaeda members as part of his defense.

Despite major differences between terrorism cases, some commonalities stand out. First, using intelligence in criminal cases is difficult, considering the need to protect sources and methods. In the United States and Britain, the strict rules governing what information can be admitted into the trial record can also be an issue. Second, terrorism prosecutions are increasingly becoming an international endeavor. Frequently, terrorist suspect have traveled to or have ties to numerous countries, requiring the cooperation of many governments for a successful case.....