If you have paid any attention to the topic of military commissions over the past sixteen years, you do not need me to tell you of the troubles they’ve faced. Whatever their merits in theory (and I do think they have many), in practice they have been vexed beyond belief. Proceedings in cases of immense importance—above all, prosecution for mass murder on 9/11—threaten to rival Jarndyce and Jarndyce for their seemingly-intractable longevity. This is the opposite of what the founders of the system sought in fall 2001.

The U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York has charged Akayed Ullah, the suspect in Monday's attempted suicide attack in New York, on five counts. They are:

Four international terrorism trials began, continued, or wrapped up in the past few weeks. In the Eastern District of New York, a U.S. citizen and al Qaeda operative who had been deported from Pakistan to the United States, was convicted of terrorism charges by a federal jury. Across the bridge in the Southern District, the Chelsea bomber’s trial began last Monday. On the same day in D.C. federal district court, the mastermind behind the 2012 Benghazi attacks also stepped into the courtroom.

Since President Trump fired Jim Comey as FBI director, the FBI has received quite a bit of attention. More than 19.5 million people tuned in to watch former director Comey testify before the Senate Intelligence Committee, and shortly thereafter, Etsy shops began to stock “Lordy, I hope there are tapes” apparel. But while the bureau grabs people’s attention, arrests of international terrorism subjects generally don’t make headlines.