12 February 2008
The military has filed capital charges against six detainees at Guantánamo accused of the 9 /11 attacks with possible death penalties. Whoa, an obstacle or two have appeared. First of all, the chief military defense lawyer does not have six lawyers available to take the cases, secondly the C.I.A. may have shot itself in the foot using “waterboarding” to obtain information. How many times have I heard head honchos in the Bush administration say the the U.S. does not torture? In my book “waterboarding” is torture. If I were being “waterboarded”, I would say anything to get it to stop but then I’m just a weak woman not a terrorist. This brings up studies that say that torture does not always provide the expected results.
No one seems to know what happens next in the most important case in the Guantánamo system. How many years and how much money will this take? They may follow the rule of law but what law applies? Will the proceedings of this untested system be hidden from the public? The Bush administration has chosen to use a military commission system and standard procedures in civilian courts do not apply. A 2006 law that allows detainees in war crimes trials the right to a lawyer, the right to have charges proved beyond a reasonable doubt and the right to appeal. This could go on for years.
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