Gitmo Dismissals Complicate Future Cases

Dropped Charges Of Two Detainees Marks Stunning Setback For Military Tribunals

(CBS/AP)  With one word — "unlawful" — the only two war-crimes trials against Guantanamo detainees fell apart in a single day, marking a stunning setback to Washington's attempts to try dozens of detainees in military court.

Two military judges dismissed charges Monday against a Guantanamo detainee accused of chauffeuring Osama bin Laden and another who allegedly killed U.S. Army Sgt. Christopher Speer of Albuquerque, N.M., who was stationed in Afghanistan.

Salim Ahmed Hamdan of Yemen and Omar Khadr, a Canadian who was 15 when he was arrested on an Afghan battlefield, were the only two of the roughly 380 prisoners at Guantanamo charged with crimes under a reconstituted military trial system.

Monday's rulings stand to complicate efforts by the United States to try other suspected al Qaeda and Taliban figures in military courts.

Defense attorneys and legal experts blamed the rush by Congress and President Bush last year to restore the war-crimes trials after the U.S. Supreme Court threw out the previous system, declaring it unconstitutional. In a remarkable coincidence, it was Hamdan's lawsuit that wound up in the Supreme Court.

In both of Monday's cases, the judges ruled that the new legislation says only "unlawful enemy combatants" can be tried by the military trials, known as commissions. But Khadr and Hamdan previously had been identified by military panels here only as enemy combatants, lacking the critical "unlawful" designation.

"Just when you think the logjam at Guantanamo Bay is going to dissipate, something else goes wrong," CBS News legal analyst Andrew Cohen said. "This is truly an unbelievable turnaround and it's almost inconceivable that the lawyers and politicians who drafted the Military Commissions law last year would have left this loophole available."

"The fundamental problem is that the law was not carefully written," said Madeline Morris, a Duke University law professor. "It was rushed through in a flurry of political pressure from the White House ... and it is quite riddled with internal contradictions and anomalies."

Prosecuting attorneys in both cases indicated they would appeal the dismissals. But the court designated to hear the appeals — known as the court of military commissions review — doesn't even exist yet, said Marine Col. Dwight Sullivan, chief of military defense attorneys at Guantanamo Bay.

[bareemperor]

Flush Bu$h

[antoniof123]

Some of you think that this is a game and that our values should only apply when it is convient well for those of you who say that here is a question for you.

How when you wake up in the morning do you remember to breath the air?

Good thing it is automatic or you would be dead. Take it one stepp further you are releasing CO2 gases and taking up value oxegen that someone else could be breathing.

[meb955]

Since when do terrorists adhere to the Geneva Conventions on warfare? ... All these scumbags should be executed for treason.
Posted by prowest210 at 10:29 AM : Jun 05, 2007

they don't, but we do. that is why "they" are considered criminal, and "we" are not. or are you suggesting that such minor things as liberty, due process and principle is only something civilization can afford when it's convenient, to be tossed away when it isn't? history is filled with examples of when it wasn't convenient, andf the results have rarely been pretty -- or effective.

how about this country showing what real values it holds by doing this the right and honorable way, and not the convenient way?

[infidel_us]

It doesn't matter. They will be held in prison while the appeal process plays out and the court of military commissions review is implemented (which will be the 2nd Tuesday of next week.)

They will probably "off" themselves like the other islamo loser did a week or so ago. The letter of the law will have been satisfied and true justice will have been served. A win-win situation.

[tuckerndfw]

Since when do terrorists adhere to the Geneva Conventions on warfare?

(hysterical blathering about Muslims)

All these scumbags should be executed for treason.

Posted by prowest210 at 10:29 AM : Jun 05, 2007

The US Constitution does not rely on the Geneva Conventions.

The US is not at war against "terrorists", cannot wage war on individuals, and these trials are a mockery of the US Constitution and rule of law.

If George Bush and his corrupt administration had not been so eager to promote Bozo as a "war time president," these criminals could have been properly tried in a criminal court. And, if what the government claims is true, would have been found guilty.

Since Bozo and the corrupt GOP led rubber stamp congress chose to do things improperly, the end result will be hundreds of future terrorists will be released. But, it doesn't really matter. Bozo has created tens of thousands of new terrorists, so a few more won't matter one way or another.

You are correct that Bush and his entire administration, and, most members of the GOP, should be tried for treason. And, if found guilty, executed in accordance with law.

Bozo Bush & the GOP are a far greater menace to the US than al qaida or anyone else.

[prowest210]

Since when do terrorists adhere to the Geneva Conventions on warfare? This is simply another case where democracy becomes its own worst enemy. They need to get their act straight because Islamic terrorism is not about to stop. All these scumbags should be executed for treason.

[tuckerndfw]

The US Constitution specifically prohibits ex post facto laws.

Congress cannot enact legislation criminalizing behavior that has already occurred.

It is highly unlikely that the laws congress passed are constitutional as relates to these cases regardless what the kangaroo court decides.

[rafterman1]

The neocons are so busy trying to "defend" America that they have forgotten the reasons why America is worth defending. Namely, freedom, fairness, honor, due process.

[terrapin78]

Two words come to mind that describe the Bu$h Admin.

Total failure.

[bareemperor]

There is only one word that rings true for the Bu$h administration: Failure.