GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba, July 21, 2008

Bin Laden's Driver Pleads Not Guilty

First War Crimes Trial At Guantanamo Bay Begins; Driver Faces Life In Prison

  • Salim Hamdan is charged with conspiracy and aiding terrorism. He could get up to life in prison if convicted. Photo

    Salim Hamdan is charged with conspiracy and aiding terrorism. He could get up to life in prison if convicted.  (AP PHOTO)

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(CBS/ AP)  The first Guantanamo war crimes trial began Monday with a not guilty plea from a former driver and alleged bodyguard for Osama bin Laden.

Salim Hamdan, a Yemeni, entered the plea through his lawyer at the U.S. Navy base in Cuba.

He is the first prisoner to face a U.S. war crimes trial since World War II.

Judge Keith Allred, a Navy captain, called a jury pool of American military officers into the courtroom and began reading them instructions. A minimum of five of the 13 officers must be selected for the trial.

Hamdan, a Yemeni, wore a khaki prison jumpsuit to the courtroom. The flowing white robe and headdress he wore at pretrial hearings was not cleaned in time for his trial, said Charles Swift, one of his civilian attorneys.

For months his lawyers fought to delay the trial, arguing that military rules don't allow for a fair defense, CBS News correspondent Bob Orr reports.

"These cases are too important to do incorrectly at the beginning," said Swift. "The importance is to get it right the first time."

Lawyers argue that enemy combatants like Hamdan, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and others may not have complete access to witnesses or classified information that may help their defense. And questionable evidence, produced by harsh interrogations, may be used against them.

The legal advisor to the Military Commissions rejects the concerns, Orr reports.

"I would say that the rights we're providing to these accused in these cases are unprecedented in the history of warfare," said Brig. Gen. Thomas Hartman.

The trial is expected to take three to four weeks, with testimony from nearly two dozen Pentagon witnesses.

Hamdan was captured at a roadblock in Afghanistan in November 2001, allegedly with two surface-to-air missiles in the car. But his lawyers say he was merely a low-level driver and mechanic without any role in the al Qaeda conspiracy against the United States.

Hamdan was taken to Guantanamo in May 2002 and selected as one of the first inmates to face prosecution. His case has created repeated legal obstacles for the Pentagon including a Supreme Court ruling that struck down an earlier version of the tribunal system.

Allred began the proceedings Monday by indicating that he would not allow the government to use some of the evidence interrogators obtained from Hamdan during his detention in Afghanistan. Defense lawyers have argued those statements were tainted by "coercive" techniques and the fact that interrogators did not advise him of a right against self-incrimination.

Defense attorneys, who say Hamdan was merely a low-level bin Laden employee, have refused to say whether they are in negotiations over a possible guilty plea.

Julia Hall, senior counsel for Human Rights Watch's counterterrorism program, said Hamdan would not be a likely candidate for a plea deal because his case appears simple in comparison with others pending before the first U.S. war-crime tribunals since World War II.

"He has alleged direct associations with Osama bin Laden, he was not held in secret detention, and a federal court judge has ruled the commission can go forward," she said. "It seems obvious why he is a person that the government would want to test drive the military commissions on."

Meanwhile, U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey wants Congress to help figure out how to give Guantanamo Bay terror detainees their day in U.S. civilian courts.

A Supreme Court ruling last month "stopped well short" of detailing how foreign suspects will be allowed to challenge their detention, Mukasey said in draft excerpts of a speech he was to deliver Monday morning.

"In other words, the Supreme Court left many significant questions open," Mukasey said in the excerpts that were obtained by The Associated Press.

He called it "well within the historic role and competence of Congress and the executive branch to attempt to resolve them." Mukasey was speaking at the American Enterprise Institute, a Washington think-tank.

At issue is the June 12 ruling that struck down a provision of the Military Commissions Act of 2006 that denied Guantanamo detainees the right to file petitions of habeas corpus. Habeas corpus is a centuries-old legal principle, enshrined in the Constitution, that allows courts to determine whether a prisoner is being held illegally.

Mukasey wants lawmakers - and not federal district judges - to set the rules. It's unclear at best whether Congress could act by then, and any new laws setting such standards likely would be snarled in appeals for years.

Among the issues to be sorted out is how civilian judges might be allowed to review evidence against the prisoners. The Justice Department has fought for years to limit judicial review of evidence in these cases.

Mukasey noted that the Supreme Court acknowledged the hearings "could raise serious national security issues."

"The court recognized, and with good reason, that certain accommodations must be made to reduce the burden habeas corpus proceedings will place on the military and to protect sources and methods of intelligence gathering," Mukasey said.

Twenty Guantanamo detainees are facing charges, including five alleged plotters of the Sept. 11 attacks who were transferred here from secret CIA prisons in 2006. Prosecutors intend to charge as many as 80 inmates at the U.S. Navy base in southeast Cuba.

© MMVIII, CBS Interactive 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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Add a Comment See all 87 Comments
by daysrnumbrd July 21, 2008 12:39 PM EDT
"Your honor... I DID come to a full and complete stop at the stopsign! Honest!"
Reply to this comment
by talkingham July 21, 2008 12:39 PM EDT
The Nazi tribunal has spoken. The guy is a driver and gets life in prison. We never put the Nazi general''s drivers in prison for life did we, and they killed millions.
Reply to this comment
by daysrnumbrd July 21, 2008 12:42 PM EDT
"Hamdan is charged with conspiracy and aiding terrorism."
........

Then what is Bin Laden''s hair stylist, gardener, and personal psychic going to be charged with?!
Reply to this comment
by neoconrcrazy July 21, 2008 1:03 PM EDT
this is what is has come down to.....we got the driver....the horror, the horror...

Reply to this comment
by daysrnumbrd July 21, 2008 1:10 PM EDT
this is what is has come down to.....we got the driver....the horror, the horror...

Posted by neoconRcrazy at 10:03 AM : Jul 21, 2008
..........

Bush will finally get to the bottom of all this "War on Terror" once we capture and try Bin Laden''s personal chef!
Reply to this comment
by georgew1956 July 21, 2008 1:24 PM EDT
this guy would light a fuse under his toe nail notguilty, he''s a snake in the grass time for little snake charming... 410 stile.
Reply to this comment
by eddom949 July 21, 2008 1:32 PM EDT
So the guy who took Bin Laden to his favorite Tim Horton''s, Starbucks, and through the drive-thru at McAli''s gets life for guilt by association. Also, he was probably available for the three wives and Bin Laden''s superstud son. This guy is the most well-adjusted guy, ever. They didn''t even see him raise a gun much less pull a trigger.
Reply to this comment
by jackie0428 July 21, 2008 1:40 PM EDT
"He pleaded not guilty! That''s all we need to know, let him go."
---Typical Liberal Moron
Reply to this comment
by pzabbie July 21, 2008 1:47 PM EDT
Wake up America! This guy and others like him want to KILL you, me, your Mother, your Sister and your Children! What don''t you bleeding heart Liberals get about this!!?? I personally know someone who has guarded these scumbags for YEARS!
Reply to this comment
by magoo2u1 July 21, 2008 2:06 PM EDT
"Watch the democrats register this guy to vote"

What is it with you Christian rednecks? You can tolerate anyone that disagrees with you? You hate America so much you want to re-create Nazi Germany right here. Don''t disagree with the "man" elected to temporarily hold an office or we will say you hate America. The libs disagree with what an individual is doing- you want to change how the government works so no one can speak. YOU HATE AMERICA !!! Take your cross and go back to Europe where you brought it from.

Reply to this comment
by talkingham July 21, 2008 2:09 PM EDT
So what''s he accused of, driving?
Reply to this comment
by talkingham July 21, 2008 2:12 PM EDT
What should we accuse Bush of for literally allowing the Taliban to walk off the field of battle with their weapons intact, only to have them come back and kill our troops?

He didn''t want to catch Bin Laden, this boogey man serves the Bush white house well! Hey we got his driver though, great job!
Reply to this comment
by megamanx1-2009 July 21, 2008 2:12 PM EDT
Bush will chalk this up as some great victory for america....meanwhile bin laden himself is nowhere to be found..god this administration can''t end soon enough...
Reply to this comment
by oldwisdom July 21, 2008 2:13 PM EDT
"Two surface to air missiles in the car"......GUILTY.
Reply to this comment
by brianbwb-2009 July 21, 2008 2:21 PM EDT
"Wake up America! This guy and others like him want to KILL you, me, your Mother, your Sister and your Children!" Posted by pzabbieWhat

"Hamdan was captured at a roadblock in Afghanistan in November 2001, allegedly with two surface-to-air missiles in the car."

What was he going to do, throw the alleged missiles across the Pacific?


What don''''t you bleeding heart Liberals get about this!!??"

The fact that Hamdan was captured at a roadblock in Afghanistan in November 2001, but you insist he could do damage to all Americans.

"I personally know someone who has guarded these scumbags for YEARS!" Posted by pzabbie

So what?
Reply to this comment
by brianbwb-2009 July 21, 2008 2:23 PM EDT
"Two surface to air missiles in the car"......GUILTY."
Posted by OldWisdom

Anti NRA, are we?
Reply to this comment
by xmanborg July 21, 2008 2:31 PM EDT
"Two surface to air missiles in the car"

Well thats not just standard stuff you keep in the car if your are just a low-level driver and mechanic without any role in the al Qaeda conspiracy against the United States.

GUILTY.
Reply to this comment
by rwassel July 21, 2008 2:36 PM EDT
Wow. Great. I feel really safe now that Osama bin Forgotten''s DRIVER is being tried. Here''s a thought, instead of spending time and money trying him, how about we try to find the guy THAT ACTUALLY CAUSED 9-11. How about that?
Reply to this comment
by stn_sage July 21, 2008 3:00 PM EDT
Now, now, all you ''doubting Thomases''! Wait until they get the French pastry chef and the rock gardener on the stand! THEN, we''ll find out all about those no good Muslim extremists! Yeah, right. This is embarrassing.
Reply to this comment
by stn_sage July 21, 2008 3:03 PM EDT
"Two surface to air missiles in the car"

Well thats not just standard stuff you keep in the car if your are just a low-level driver and mechanic without any role in the al Qaeda conspiracy against the United States.
Posted by XmanBorg at 11:31 AM : Jul 21, 2008
-----------------------------
Did it NOT occur to you that this guy JUST drives the car?! He probably doesn''t load it, and they don''t tell me what''s in it, because if he knew he might be to afraid to drive it! Think about it!!
Reply to this comment
by stn_sage July 21, 2008 3:11 PM EDT
Posted by stn_sage at 12:03 PM : Jul 21, 2008
...and they don''''t tell me what''''s in it,...

should be adjusted to read,

...and they don''''t him what''''s in it,...

Note- use your commonsense when reading posts.
Reply to this comment
by thinkharder- July 21, 2008 3:19 PM EDT
why give him any special breaks
Posted by zgomer at 12:11 PM : Jul 21, 2008

The right to a judge and jury...due process and a fair trial is not a "special break" Sir Galahad. What is this, the inquisition? This is not a witch hunt. The man deserves to plead his case...if he makes a good one, he deserves his freedom. If he is proven guilty...hang ''em. BUT...he deserves his day in court...everyone does. Next you neo-con fascist pigs are going to call for simply tossing possible terrorists into a lake to see if they float. This is AMERICA...we are a better people. We are a just people. If it was up to you, we would be no better than our enemy...only more powerful.

You people disgust me and nnothing about your right wing ravings is pat of the AMERICAN IDEAL!
Reply to this comment
by July 21, 2008 3:20 PM EDT
Salim Hamdan said he is not worried because his brother Barrack Obama will ensure his release when he is elected Priesident of the United States. LOL - it is a joke so calm down.
Reply to this comment
by stevex47 July 21, 2008 3:30 PM EDT
This is as close to bin Laden as they get I guess.
Mission Accomplished nutjobs.
Reply to this comment
by stevex47 July 21, 2008 3:31 PM EDT
"Ha-ha. Perfect! Surface to Air missiles don''''t kill people, people kill people."

LOL, surface to air missiles for everybody !
Reply to this comment
by stevex47 July 21, 2008 3:33 PM EDT
"kill the prick then go after the other big fish in the desert, the real cowards that won''''t come out to fight! They started this, now we finish it on out terms, you libs don''''t like it, then go suck a lolipop!"

Now there''s a wide stance for ya. Um, would now be a good time to get bin Laden? Is boosh done kissing their hands and feet? Ya, going after bin laden could possibly maybe someday be a potential idea.
Reply to this comment
by chrisl45 July 21, 2008 4:04 PM EDT
Oh, I think he''s waiting for Obama to sign is pardon and bless him.
Reply to this comment
by gunsvsbrains July 21, 2008 4:05 PM EDT
This is AMERICA...we are a better people. We are a just people. If it was up to you, we would be no better than our enemy...only more powerful.
You people disgust me and nnothing about your right wing ravings is pat of the AMERICAN IDEAL!
Posted by ThinkHarder

We wouldn''t be more powerful for long. We would end up so corrupt and full of hate, and the few of the sickest most power hungry greedmongers would bloat and actual believe they are always correct, and everyone else is lower...there would be total break down of our society - OH YEAH, KINDA LIKE THE PLACE WHERE THIS FILTHY ANIMAL COMES FROM!!!!
Reply to this comment
by megamanx1-2009 July 21, 2008 4:06 PM EDT
I hear Bin Laden''s janitor is up for trial next...
Reply to this comment
by michtop July 21, 2008 4:31 PM EDT
Should not even have a trail,hang him by his neck on the court house steps.
Reply to this comment
by stevex47 July 21, 2008 4:32 PM EDT
Ha,
"Oh, I think he''''s waiting for Obama to sign is pardon and bless him."

Ya, that boosh has sure shown bin laden who''s boss. Hey, have you seen the pics of boosh kissing the bin ladens. It''s an easy google.
Reply to this comment
by stevex47 July 21, 2008 4:34 PM EDT
Maybe boosh should go after the persons that leaked the CIA agent....hmmm, no I guess not.
Reply to this comment
by ajaxtheleast July 21, 2008 4:40 PM EDT
SEVEN YEARS AND WE NAILED THE MECHANIC

OF A MAN WHO DOESN''T OWN A CAR !!!???

HANG ''EM!


What me worry?

Salim looks as happy as an Iraqi morticion
watching the latest IED footage on his
''60 TV set.

Reply to this comment
by ioweign July 21, 2008 4:40 PM EDT
"He pleaded not guilty! That''s all we need to know, let him go."
---Typical Liberal Moron

Posted by jackie0428 at 10:40 AM : Jul 21, 2008

In this country, boosh has them on "Executive Privilege"...

Reply to this comment
by hermitdave July 21, 2008 4:44 PM EDT
As the trials start, the rest still rot. America will forever be removed from the nations of the world known for human freedom. They join many countries known for torture and holding humans in cages without charges or rights to a fair trial. The Americans can thank Bush and the Neo-Cons for this disgusting honor.
Reply to this comment
by jackie0428 July 21, 2008 5:00 PM EDT
Hermitdave the Jihadist says "As the trials start, the rest still rot."
We should be so lucky.
I wish they WERE rotting. Instead, our crazy and PC military gives them 3 meals a day, exercise time, prayer rugs, and Korans.
Meanwhile, in the Middle East, every single prisoner taken by AQ is tortured with blow torches, nail guns, knives, and amputations. And only after months of torture, do they receive the merciful bullet in the head. A stay at Gitmo is like a visit to Club Med by comparison.
www.jihadwatch.org
Reply to this comment
by hermitdave July 21, 2008 6:16 PM EDT
I just made a post about the flag pin heads and their name calling of me. I see it was up but now gone. I sure hope CBS is not going to join ABC in not wanting to hear the views of a extreme liberal atheist. I guess what they do with this post will provide that answer.
Reply to this comment
by talkingham July 21, 2008 6:22 PM EDT
I can see why U are a Hermit Dave - U think everythggn is about U don''t U Dave the Hermit. Well it''s not. And having a conservative atheist bad things about U would be better I suppose. Feel better now, someone is talking aobut U hermit Dave.

Well, the Hermit aside, I hardly see where this guy''s crimes amoutn to what would be considered War Crimes, but under the neocons anyone who wants gas to go back to less than $2/gal is probably considered a war criminal, and I admit it''s pre-2005 thinking.

Sorry Dave, U r so dumb.
Reply to this comment
by talkingham July 21, 2008 6:25 PM EDT
Hey now I''m starting to get the Bush logic. They are trying to raise the price of gas so high that it will be indeed a crime to drive a car-- this is a test case and we are next.
Reply to this comment
by hermitdave July 21, 2008 6:30 PM EDT
GOSH
Reply to this comment
by hermitdave July 21, 2008 6:32 PM EDT
GOSH talking ham, we can see by your nick name that you are a shrinking wallflower and hate the idea that anyone pays attention to you.
Reply to this comment
by talkingham July 21, 2008 6:43 PM EDT
booo hooo, I''m so hurt by all this Im gonna cry like a hermit--

But let''s keep talking about a driver accused of war crimes for driving, this is an interesting concept. Did he drive millions to their deaths or something? Seems like the perfect first case if you''re serious about presecuting war crimminals.

Of course, Bush let the millionaire Bin Laden relatives leave the US without even questioning by the FBI before they flew all the Saudis out of the US when the rest of us were not allowed to fly.
Reply to this comment
by hermitdave July 21, 2008 6:49 PM EDT
GOSH again you ham, you are telling this to someone who thinks this guy was framed from the git go. Bush bought these humans at the start of his illegal Afghan crusade. He uses them like he uses his old CIA buddy Osama. You know the brother of the guy who loaned Bush the money to start his first failed venture in the oil business.
Reply to this comment
by vnveteran72 July 21, 2008 6:54 PM EDT
Hermitdave the Jihadist says "As the trials start, the rest still rot."
We should be so lucky.
I wish they WERE rotting. Instead, our crazy and PC military gives them 3 meals a day, exercise time, prayer rugs, and Korans.
Meanwhile, in the Middle East, every single prisoner taken by AQ is tortured with blow torches, nail guns, knives, and amputations. And only after months of torture, do they receive the merciful bullet in the head. A stay at Gitmo is like a visit to Club Med by comparison.
www.jihadwatch.org


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Posted by jackie0428 at 02:00 PM : Jul 21, 2008
+ report abuse

Gosh, that makes sense.....Let''s see, by your logic we should duplicate the most Horrendous and Inhumane Treatments ever devised throughout History because "They" did it......Break out the Rack, Guillotine, and Dismemberment apparatus, Boys, Ole'' Jackie wants to Re-Write U.S. and International Law and Treaties............Amazing......
Reply to this comment
by rwassel July 21, 2008 6:58 PM EDT
Wow. Great. I feel really safe now that Osama bin Forgotten''s DRIVER is being tried. Here''s a thought, instead of spending time and money trying him, how about we try to find the guy THAT ACTUALLY CAUSED 9-11. How about that?
Reply to this comment
by vnveteran72 July 21, 2008 7:04 PM EDT
Bush Senior Met With Bin Laden''s Brother on 9/11

Paul Joseph Watson

Comment: Despite studying September 11 for two years solid, one fact I only just discovered is that George W. Bush''s father was meeting with Osama bin Laden''s brother, Shafig bin Laden, in the Ritz-Carlton Hotel, Washington, on the morning of 9/11. They were on Carlyle Group business just a few miles from where hijackers supposedly acting on behalf of Osama bin Laden would fly a plane into the Pentagon.

Recall that the chief financier of the so-called hijackers, Pakistan''s Chief Spy General Mahmoud Ahmad, was meeting with Bush administration officials the week before 9/11. He also met with Bob Graham and Porter Goss on the morning of the attacks, who would later go on to head the first 9/11 investigative committee.

Using Shrub''s Idea of "Justice", Poppy should have been sitting in Gitmo with Goss and Graham for the last 5 years, subject to periodic "Enhanced Interrogation" sessions with the others.
The entire "War on Terra" was a Planned Op of the Neocons and Mossad. They''ve done it before, and they''ll do it again......
And the Dimbulbs say, "Bomb, Bomb, Iran"........
Reply to this comment
by randynason July 21, 2008 7:10 PM EDT
Next, we''ll be going after bin Laden''s hairdresser, dry cleaner, and falcon trainer. Oy!
Reply to this comment
by randynason July 21, 2008 7:18 PM EDT
Bush Senior Met With Bin Laden''''s Brother on 9/11

Paul Joseph Watson

That''s absolutely correct. And, if you also remember correctly, it was next that all flights were grounded and the bin Laden family rounded up to be flown out of the country. One another note: Neil Bush was given money by the Saudis to start up his software business. When Barbara Bush made her charitable "donation" to the hurricane Katrina relief, the donation was contingent upon purchase of this same software from her son''s business. This, I remember well from AAR and NPR. These facts should be remembered and taken into account, when Bush''s impeachment and war crime trial begins. It all ties in pretty tight and is well-documented.
Reply to this comment
by stevex47 July 21, 2008 7:18 PM EDT
"one fact I only just discovered is that George W. Bush''''s father was meeting with Osama bin Laden''''s brother, Shafig bin Laden, in the Ritz-Carlton Hotel, Washington, on the morning of 9/11"

Interesting veteran. Did you also know who the head of security was at the World Trade Center, and Building 7 TILL THE DAY BEFORE 9-11?

None other than Boosh''s brother...Marvin !
Interesting indeed. How about that nutjobs?
Reply to this comment
by jackie0428 July 21, 2008 7:38 PM EDT
Stevex47, gee, while you''re just making stuff up, let ME have a crack at this fun game too:
1. Cheney''s mother-in-law Joyce? She was the co-pilot on the plane that hit the Pentagon! I swear!
2. Karl Rove? Well, HIS barber had just left WTC2 only FIVE MINUTES before the 1st plane hit!! Wow!
3. Paul Wolfowitz? Yep, you guessed it: his brother Ivan was actually strapped to the missile that hit that field in Pennsylvania! For real!!!
4. Jenna Bush? Well hello??? The day before 9-11 she had just dated Felix Unger, who, incredibly, was on a news chopper covering the WTC towers as they fell. Whoa!!!
5. Most amazing of all, Barbara Bush! Yep, Bush''s mom!! She had actually just baked a plate of snickerdoodles and had them shipped via DHL to Zawahiri only 4 DAYS before 9-11!!! Wow!!!
Hey everyone, you TOO can play make-believe! It''s so much more fun than the truth, so lets go!!!
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