John Boehner's statement is particularly telling:

The Obama Administration’s irresponsible decision to prosecute the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks in New York City puts the interests of liberal special interest groups before the safety and security of the American people. The possibility that Khalid Sheik Mohammed and his co-conspirators could be found ‘not guilty’ due to some legal technicality just blocks from Ground Zero should give every American pause. emphasis added

Legal technicality? What could Mr. Boehner possibly mean?

Ann Althouse knows what happens when you try someone who has been tortured by being waterboarded 183 times in one month. So does Phillip Carter at Slate:

Any information gained through torture will almost certainly be excluded from court in any criminal prosecution of the tortured defendant. And, to make matters worse for federal prosecutors, the use of torture to obtain statements may make those statements (and any evidence gathered as a result of those statements) inadmissible in the trials of other defendants as well. Thus, the net effect of torture is to undermine the entire federal law enforcement effort to put terrorists behind bars. With each alleged terrorist we torture, we most likely preclude the possibility of a criminal trial for him, and for any of the confederates he may incriminate.

Defense attorneys for Mr. Mohammed will claim that any statements previously made by the accused while in U.S. custody are inadmissible in a court of law. They will claim that any statements made by associates of Mr. Mohammed under similar duress will be similarly inadmissible.

Americans will be reminded again of what the Bush administration's reckless, immoral and counterproductive pro-torture policies have meant both for those we have detained and for our ability to prosecute them for their alleged crimes.

And when the masterminds of 9/11 and other terror attacks are convicted and safely locked away in American prisons after their convictions in spite of the torture-related hurdles thrown at them by the incompetent and immoral policies of the Bush Administration, Americans will be reminded that extra-legal and extra-Constitutional measures are not actually needed. They will be reminded that the Bill of Rights and the American system of jurisprudence will work to protect the innocent and punish the guilty if allowed to do its job.

John Boehner, of course, is too smart to admit that. Republican bloggers like Erick Erickson of RedState, however, are not. I received this charming RedState Action Alert in my email this morning (and, apparently, so did John Cole):

Today Barack Obama is going to announce that the terrorist mastermind of September 11th, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, will be sent to New York City for a criminal trial in a civilian court. In that trial, the terrorist will get all the rights afforded an American citizen in a criminal trial, including the right to a fair trial, the right to a taxpayer funded attorney, the right to review all the evidence against him, potentially including classified intelligence matters, the right to exclude evidence against him including, potentially, any confession obtained through enhanced interrogation techniques, etc.

That pretty much says it all. Republicans aren't terrified of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and his possible ill deeds. They're afraid of what will happen if their own actions are brought to light, and what the consequences of their own ill deeds might ultimately be for the American people.

All of which is par for the GOP course.