The Washington Post today reported: "Obama advisers are set to recommend military tribunals for alleged 9/11 plotters." The report indicates that the Obama administration now leans towards trying self-proclaimed 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed (KSM) and his co-conspirators in military tribunals. Reactions were swift and are offered below without comment.

"Obama said that the choice between our security and our ideals is a false choice. He was right," writes Adam Serwer at The American Prospect. "The real choice was always between our ideals and our politics, and if the above story is true, then Obama will have made the obvious, if profoundly disappointing, choice."

At Harper's, Scott Horton introduced "Barack Obama's new attorney general: Rahm Emanuel," apparently blaming Emanuel for the administration's shift in policy. Marcy Wheeler seemed to agree.

"Three is the number of people who have been convicted in the military commissions system. Two of the men convicted in the military commission system are free today," the ACLU offerred at their blog. "Compare that to the more than 300 who have been convicted on terrorism-related charges in our federal criminal courts and are incarcerated in federal prisons."

Sen. Russ Feingold notes this track record of military commissions and warns that "[t]he best way to bring these terrorists to justice swiftly is through our civilian courts."

Spencer Ackerman is tracking commentary from former military officers opposing military tribunals for KSM.

Steve Benen wonders if fault for any potential policy shift ultimately lies with Congress, who "spent the last year cowering whenever national security came up, and threatening to side with Republicans on cutting off funding for trials and Gitmo closure."

Folks at The Atlantic's politics blog conjectured that the Post's "story is merely a test balloon."

Less charitable commentary was provided by Jeralyn Merritt at TalkLeft and Glenn Greenwald at Salon, who both voiced grave disappointment with the admistration's reported shift in position.

A final notable quote is from Attorney General Eric Holder, a former ACS board member, in an exchange with a reporter from The New Yorker earlier this year. In an extensive report on his decision to try KSM in an Article III Court, Holder eagerly defended what was then the administration's position:

"I don't apologize for what I've done," [Holder told The New Yorker]. "History will show that the decisions we've made are the right ones." Holder said that he regarded trying Khalid Sheikh Mohammed in a courtroom as "the defining event of my time as Attorney General." But, he added, "between now and then I suspect we're in for some interesting times."

If the commentary above is any indication, interesting times may well be upon us.

[Image via The White House.]