Surprise Witness For Bin Laden Driver

Former Gitmo Prosecutor Who Charged Political Interference In Tribunals Will Testify For Detainee

(AP)  In a stunning turnaround, the former chief military prosecutor at Guantanamo Bay said today he would be a defense witness for the driver of Osama bin Laden.

Air Force Colonel Morris Davis, who resigned in October over alleged political interference in the U.S. military tribunals, said he'll appear at a hearing for Salim Ahmed Hamdan.

"I expect to be called as a witness ... I'm more than happy to testify," Davis said in a telephone interview from Washington. He called it "an opportunity to tell the truth."

At the April pretrial hearing inside the U.S. military base in southeast Cuba, Hamdan's defense team plans to argue that alleged political interference cited by Davis violates the Military Commissions Act, Hamdan's military lawyer, Navy Lt. Brian Mizer, told the AP.

Davis alleges, among other things, that Pentagon general counsel William Haynes said in August 2005 that any acquittals of terrorism suspects at Guantanamo would make the United States look bad, calling into question the fairness of the proceedings.

"He said, 'We can't have acquittals, we've got to have convictions,'" Davis recalled.

The former chief prosecutor says the statement by Haynes, first reported this week in The Nation magazine, occurred after the general counsel compared the Guantanamo tribunals to Nuremberg and Davis says he pointed out some of those tried at the end of World War II were acquitted, giving the trials more credibility in the eyes of the world.

At the time, Davis says, he shrugged off the comments. But he came to view them as alarming after he was placed in a chain of command under Haynes and the prosecutor began to sense political pressure on his work.

A Pentagon spokesman, Navy Cmdr. Jeffrey Gordon, denied that Haynes made such a comment. Gordon also denied the former prosecutor's allegations of political interference, which he has repeated in newspaper opinion columns and in interviews in recent months.

If the judge rejects the motion to dismiss, Mizer said the defense will seek to remove two top officials in the military commissions system - legal adviser Air Force Brig. Gen. Thomas Hartmann and Convening Authority Susan Crawford - from Hamdan's case. This would likely result in further delays to a trial that has been stalled by legal challenges.

It is not clear whether the Pentagon - which defends the commission system as fair - will allow Davis to testify. In December, two months after he resigned as the chief prosecutor for the Guantanamo war crimes tribunals, the Defense Department barred Davis from appearing before a Senate Judiciary subcommittee.

The U.S. holds about 275 men at Guantanamo and plans to prosecute about 80 before military commissions. The Pentagon this month charged six detainees with murder and war crimes for the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks and said they could be executed if convicted.

Hamdan faces up to life in prison if the tribunal convicts him of conspiracy and supporting terrorism. His lawyers admit he was a driver for bin Laden, but say he had no significant role in planning or carrying out attacks against the U.S.

Davis, now head of the Air Force judiciary, said he believes "there are some very bad men at Guantanamo and some of them deserve the death penalty." But he says civilian political appointees have improperly interfered with the work of military prosecutors.

"I think the rules are fair," he said. "I think the problem is having political appointees injected into the system. They are looking for a political outcome, not justice."

He alleges, for example, that senior officials pushed for a plea bargain in March 2007 for Australian David Hicks, allowing him to serve a nine-month sentence in his homeland for aiding the Taliban.

Davis said the sentence was too lenient and was orchestrated to help Australian Prime Minister John Howard, who was under criticism domestically for his support of U.S. President George W. Bush and U.S. policies.

[clovisbuford]

re: dow jones20k , how much of an idiot are you? Colonel Davis is a lifer in the miltary , guessing he trends republican , just happens to be honest .and because he believes in the rule of law you make talk about takin the accused home and to a concert. One could not like a client and even think they are horrible people , but at some point if its a court of law its supposed to be an even playing field. You distort the issues , talking points probably listened to on talk radio. Its interesting to note you would give up all your rights out of fear . another chicken hawk

[rowdytexan2]

C''''mon Rowdy, ya gotta admit that if''''n ya held a guy for 6 years, shoved bambu slivers under his fingernails, played Aerosmith at 121 dB night and day, and waterboarded him (he was one of the 3) and then decided he was "not guilty", ya''''d kinda look bad.

Of course, sayin that out loud kinda makes ya look bad too.

Maybe that''''s the slippery slope when you violate the Constitution and international laws...


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Posted by Nancy_Naive at 04:03 PM : Feb 22, 2008

lol, Nancy, I was referring to the issue not the guy coming out with the truth.

The fact that some Neocon arse even has the audacity to say that acquittals will make us look bad show a corruption of the system. It implies that this will simply be a kangaroo court where what evidence they have will be manipulated to say what they want it to, rather than have any basis in fact, much less truth.

At this point, it is hard to believe at this point that a just court exists for these men in light of the fact that confessions were tortured out of them.

[dowjones20k]

Well maybe this alledged terrorist is not bin ladens driver?

So maybe if he''s aquitted, we should bring him into the US and give him some money and let him set up shop here?

Maybe one of you sympathetic posters could let him move in with you and yours?

Yeah ... that would be good, Im sure you could take him to an aerosmith concert and show him it really is good music and then bring him to your home and sleep soundly and rest assured the constitution was upheld ...


Yeah .. Yeah that would be good

[lovegetpeace]

Man Finally. Somebody from the Pentagon is going to tell us the truth.

I always scratch my head wondering why 378 prisoners in Guantanamo have never be accused of anything by Bush.

[atlantis_one]

it''s a sorry day when we find out that our own military personal are involved in such a position as this person is involved if he has had any involment with Ben Laden he should be put on trial also, and count him as one who was also involved in the bombing of the twin towers I hope that he is put on trial and put into prison where he belongs

[rowdytexan2]

"Davis alleges, among other things, that Pentagon general counsel William Haynes said in August 2005 that any acquittals of terrorism suspects at Guantanamo would make the United States look bad, calling into question the fairness of the proceedings."

Good Gawd!! More worms crawling out of the woodwork!
The Neocon regime is just full of ''em!

[inventagod]

DlCK CHENEY is loading the shotgun...
RUN, Colonel Davis - RUN!