WASHINGTON, July 17, 2008
Judge Green Lights Gitmo War Crime Trials
Bin Laden's Former Driver Will Be First To Face Tribunals On Monday; Ruling A Victory For Bush Administration
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Photo
Salim Ahmed Hamdan is seen in this undated file photo. Hamdan was a one-time driver for Osama bin Laden. (AP PHOTO)
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Gitmo Tribunals
Detainees on trial, photos and a history of the naval base.
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Who's Who
The Sept. 11 Defendants
The five prisoners, led by Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, charged with plotting the attacks.
U.S. District Judge James Robertson on Thursday rejected an effort by Osama bin Laden's former driver, Salim Hamdan, to postpone his trial. Hamdan argued he would suffer irreparable harm if his was tried before he could challenge the legality of the process.
Robertson's ruling is a victory for the Bush administration, which plans to use the military commission process to prosecute alleged Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and others charged in the 2001 attacks.
The Department of Justice celebrated the win for the administration, noting that Hamdan's trial before the commission would give him the most protection ever received by a defendant in such trials.
"We are pleased with the court's decision allowing Mr. Hamdan to be tried for war crimes before a military commission," DOJ Spokesman Erik Ablin told CBS News. "The government looks forward to presenting its case against Mr. Hamdan to the commission. We note that, under the procedures established by Congress in the Military Commissions Act, Mr. Hamdan will receive greater procedural protections than those ever before provided to defendants in military-commission trials."
"The good news for the government is that it finally gets to try a terror suspect," said CBS News legal analyst Andrew Cohen. "The bad news for the government is that any conviction that follows the trial can be overturned on appeal thanks to a series of rulings by the Supreme Court. The White House desperately wants to see at least one successful military trial before the end of the Bush Administration and this ruling all but assures that. Except that even if and when Hamdan is convicted the appeals process will take years to resolve."
The American Civil Liberties Union agreed.
"It is unfortunate that this trial will go forward," said Jameel Jaffer, director of the ACLU National Security Project. "As Judge Robertson noted, there are serious questions about the constitutionality of the rules under which Mr. Hamdan will be tried. It doesn't make sense to conduct a trial under rules that are likely to be found unconstitutional later on. Proceeding with this trial now will only draw out a legal process that has taken far too long already, and further discredit a system that has been a disgrace from the start."
The administration suffered a setback last month when the Supreme Court ruled the Guantanamo Bay detainees can challenge their detention in federal court. Hamdan's attorneys hoped to use that ruling to delay his trial. But Robertson refused.
"Hamdan is to face a military commission designed by Congress based on guidelines handed down by the Supreme Court," Robertson said.
He said Hamdan can raise any procedural challenges during trial and, if convicted, he can ask military and civilian appeals courts to settle constitutional questions.
Robertson's decision came shortly after a military judge at Guantanamo Bay also denied Hamdan's request for a postponement.
While Robertson stressed that his ruling only affects Hamdan, judges overseeing hundreds of other detainee cases have said they were watching to see how he would handle the case.
The Justice Department argued that prosecuting suspected terrorists is a key part of the war on terrorism, and a necessary step toward closing the Guantanamo Bay prison.
"Putting the military commission proceedings on hold now would be contrary to these interests and hamper the government's war efforts, not to mention constitute a significant intrusion into areas within the province of the executive branch," government attorneys said.
Hamdan's attorneys can appeal the ruling but the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit would have to act quickly to keep the trial from going forward. His attorneys said they had yet to decide whether to appeal.
©MMVIII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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See all 68 Commentsand what would your solution be. Turn them loose?
Note to US troops, Take no prisoners.. Treat them as they have treated your brothers and sisters.. After all they did not sign the Geneva convention.
Double Tap..
and what would your solution be. Turn them loose?
Posted by mbcsmith at 02:25 PM : Jul 17, 2008
The 1993 WTC terrorists were "convicted and sentenced" in a year and a half using our existing legal system.
Sorry if I don''t get don''t exactly see this as "justice".
Sorry if I don''''t get don''''t exactly see this as "justice".
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Posted by jumkey at 02:44 PM : Jul 17, 2008
This moron raghead is posting from a cave in Pakistan. Hold on pal, We''re coming for you
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Posted by IOWEIGN at 02:37 PM : Jul 17, 2008
Precisely the difference with Clinton. He never imagined this country was at war with radical Islam and made it a domestic police action. It all could have been avoided had Clinton had just a little foresight
Article 4
Posted by IOWEIGN at 02:37 PM : Jul 17, 2008
Precisely the difference with Clinton. He never imagined this country was at war with radical Islam and made it a domestic police action. It all could have been avoided had Clinton had just a little foresight
Posted by mbcsmith at 02:48 PM : Jul 17, 2008
911 could have been avoided if Boosh had listened.
7+ years and still waiting for the Boosh legal eagles...
Priceless
Posted by mbcsmith
This isn''t a war - it never has been a war. WWI and WWII were wars. This is only called a war because our jumped-up little martinet of a President decided to call it one. The whole *** thing could have been over in a couple of months if he''d just decided to beat the guys we needed to in Afghanistan and not go off in some sand-blind insane invasion of Iraq.
Yes, the guys from Twin Towers I are all behind bars, as are the guys who did Madrid, those who tried to bomb London the second time, and those who conspired to blow up American planes over the Atlantic. What has Bush done? Imprisoned a bunch of possible terrorists illegally for 7 years and is only now getting to do something about it. The cretin-in-chief and his cronies are no better than the second rate dictators they try to hold in such contempt, preaching human rights when the US is the biggest abuser of all. Thank God they only have 5 more months to serve and pity the poor buggers who have to come in and clean up the mess.
Pity also and praise the great fighting men and women of this great country who have been following this creature''s orders for so long. They have all served above and beyond and deserve so much better leadership than they have been saddled with.
That being the case, the process is tainted by the Administration having been caught lying so frequently, and by so many, many times where this nation and the world have listened to witness after witness for the Administration say "I do not recall." and "I do not remember the specifics." and variations thereof for days at a time.
So even if the process is scrupulously honest, that layer of trust and faith that government requires and law enforcement and the judicial system needs even more is gone...
Who can afford to believe that this Administration or its subordinates will be telling the truth "this time" - when they so rarely have in the past?
Why the driver why not Bin Laden, can some one explain why we don''t have him yet?
Posted by mbcsmith
bushies just can''t get over the fact that 9/11 happened on george w bush''s watch. he is guilty of being asleep at the wheel. avoiding trials to show his ineptitude will not work. and neither will blaming any other president but dubya.
to harm our country and our people, and neither do we"
-The Little Drunken Idiot Son Tell the Truth for Once
Posted by ddhinnyc
I "totally ruined my argument" because you don''t believe what you don''t want to believe flathead?
Oh, ok, I didn''t convince the numerically challenged Bush cultists by stating the truth. Not really surprising.
How bout the torture then? Got an excuse for that tinybrain?
Posted by antoniof123 at 03:09 PM : Jul 17, 2008
And why would Bush the liar allow all the Bin Laden family to flee the country in the days after 911 when no one else could fly?
MMM, I don''t suppose it has anything to do with the Bin Laden ranch in texas about 10 miles from the bush ranch or the fact that the bushes and Bin Ladens own oil companies together.
Or did they find the missing 757 airplane wreckage (about the size of a football field) from the pentagon attack?
Posted by mbcsmith at 02:25 PM : Jul 17, 2008
The 1993 WTC terrorists were "convicted and sentenced" in a year and a half using our existing legal system.
Posted by IOWEIGN
Sorry, I had to get back to work...thanks for the accurate reply IOWEIGN! In thsi country, we have always held that even in the most heinous of crimes, the defendent has a right to a speedy trial, and other Miranda rights. Don''t give me this BS about them not playing by the rules or not subsribing to the Geneva Convention! It''s far more important that we do as a civilized nation and we did agree to the conventions. The guilty deserve to be punsished, but now we are far less able to distinguish between the guilty and those wrongly accused or guilty of lesser crimes. If they were held on US soil, according to our laws, we would have to let them go. Not because they are innocent but because the Bush admin messed it up so bad and violated every rule in the book. You can thank your bumbling village idiot for that, not me.
%u201COn September 20, 2001, 18 members of the party of Saudi Prince Abdulmajeed Bin Abdulaziz departed from Las Vegas, Nevada, for Stamstead, England aboard a chartered B 727-21, tail number 727PX, destination Stamstead Airport (London) England,%u201D read the Commission addendum on the Saudi flights.
%u201CBefore departure the aircraft was swept, perimeter security was provided, and all persons boarding were matched to previously provided passports and a manifest by agents of the USCS.%u201D
The 727 that ferried both John McCain and Saudi Royals actually belonged to Vicki%u2019s boss, Lowell %u201CBud%u201D Paxson, whose Paxson Communications owns a down-market Christian broadcaster called PAX-TV.
Paxson was female lobbyist Vicki Iseman''s biggest client.
Two others of the six flights scrutinized by the 9/11 Commission were flown by air contractors known to be involved in CIA renditions on planes whose flight logs recorded trips to Guantanamo Bay, where the CIA%u2019s detention facility was doing brisk business.
Two of the six, in other words, were CIA planes
Two others of the six flights scrutinized by the 9/11 Commission were flown by air contractors known to be involved in CIA renditions on planes whose flight logs recorded trips to Guantanamo Bay, where the CIA%u2019s detention facility was doing brisk business.
Two of the six, in other words, were CIA planes
When we invade your country, any who oppose our army will be designated an enemy combatant, not a prisoner of war nor a freedom fighter.
The founding fathers have their heads hung in shame and embarrassment.
We should take down the statue of liberty.
HE HAS NO MIRANDA RIGHTS, CIVIL RIGHTS ETC, HE IS HELD UNDER THE GENEVA RULES WHICH SETS OUT HIS TREATMENT WHICH IS A HECK OF A LOT BETTER THAN TREATMENT AT SAY THE TEXAS DEPT OF CORRECTIONS OR LA DEPT OF CORRECTIONS. SO HE''S NOT TREATED TOO BAD AND NOT GETTING SHOT OR SHOT AT. ENUFF SAID.
Last month, they could hardly wait to get into civilian court, but today the federal court isn''t any good either for Hamdan and his defenders.
Never to face the evidence against them at all in any US tribunal is the real aim of their lawyers'' manoeuvres.
That would fit the crime.
All for the purpose of pulling off the Largest Theft and Destruction of National Resources and Wealth in History.........Pathetic.......
Ahhh, the Bu$hCo/NeoCon whitewash of their own crimes on 9/11 continues...
"The Prosecution of George W. Bush for Murder", the New York Times bestselling author and prosecutor lays out the legal case for prosecuting President Bush in a US courtroom after he leaves office.
"After years of disclosures by government investigations, media accounts, and reports from human rights organizations, there is no longer any doubt as to whether the current administration has committed war crimes. The only question that remains to be answered is whether those who ordered the use of torture will be held to account."
The report found that medical examinations of 11 former detainees revealed %u201Cscars and other injuries consistent with their accounts of beatings, electric shocks, shackling and, in at least one case, sodomy.%u201D
1. It''s almost seven years after 9/11.
2. The Bush administration has concocted a new, fake category of criminal, an enemy combatant.
3. They''ve set up special courts designed to DENY common legal rights given to both civilians and military members.
4. Federal appeals courts have made various rulings about rules that do or don''t apply to the defendants; but, now they''re FINALLY ready to have the FIRST trial, under this questionable system?!
5. And who is the first defendant? Osama Bin Laden, perhaps? NOPE! None other than the infamous, chauffeur of Osama Bin Laden! YES, that''s right! BinLadens'' driver! NEXT, they''ll try BinLadens'' French pastry chef! Or, his valet! Or, his maid, etcetera!
6. This is or should be a sad, historical moment in American jurisprudence that the U.S. government would proceed to hold such a scurrilous trial! It represents an onerous mark against the American Justice system that will not easily be erased from the minds of the rest of the worlds'' peoples!
7. It IS part of Bush''s legacy! Unfortunately, it is a negative part, but then, what ISN''T?!
The above is the sort of remark I have come to expect from a far left idiot.
Oh and here''s another...
"Ahhh, the Bu$hCo/NeoCon whitewash of their own crimes on 9/11 continues... - Posted by inventagod2
Honestly, how do sane people align themselves with this sort of human garbage. Obama supporters - disavow yourselves of these idiots.
This is the first war I''ve ever heard of where internees are given a trial.
So, I have a question for you. If Obama should find himself painted into a corner on Iran telling him, "yes, we are making a bomb, and there is nothing you can do about it.", something that very well COULD happen, should we call him a chicken-hawk if he asks for a declaration of war.
The man didn''t serve, right ? Isn''t that the criteria ?
Did you hear Bush''s recent Definition of abortion ? It now includes birth control pills, iuds, and other contraception!
Clinton never even defined " is "
How many heads have we sawed off lately, jerk !
Perhaps you live in Iran or Venezuela ?
Sorry, Neocons.....you Nazis should have studied History......
1) "Since there is Irrefutable Evidence that most of these guys were Tortured"
Not nly a lie, but wishful thinking by this far left idiot.
2)"...Neocons.....you Nazis..."
Too bad you didn''t take one of the other 50,000''s place in Vietnam. You are obviously suffering from PTSD to the point of where you''d be better off that way.
Oh WOW, you liberals must be foaming at the mouth now that you know your buddies will be going to trial. I just hope that if they are convicted, the sentance is carried out RIGHT AWAY.
How many heads have we sawed off lately, jerk !
Perhaps you live in Iran or Venezuela ?
personally-none but define lately as the "terrorist gave this up as bad PR long ago. I''m sure people recieving aid from us are cutting off plenty. Do you know what clandestine is? Do you know how secret wars are paid for when the operations are too big for congress to pay for? Drugs and weapons are smuggled. It happened in veitnam with air america, again with Iran-Contra and now tha same thing is happening again from the same bases ollie north set up. Ever heard of the MEK ? They are on the State Dept list of terror orgs yet we fund them in Iran.
If heads were cut off, that''s the area it would be in.
Is jerk the best you could come up with?
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Posted by rosieod4prez
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