In the continuing saga being played out at Gitmo, the military judges threw another roadblock back to the Bush Administrations plan to try these held in captivity there under the new Military Commissions Act.
The military appealed the dropping of charges against Omar Khadar now 21, who was 15 at the time of his capture. Colonel Peter Brownwback refused to grant the governments request.
Given that the Supreme Court has now agreed to hear the cases of the Gitmo detainees, it is very doubtful that the Department of Defense will continue to press the cases, until after the Supreme Court hands down it's rulings in the fall.
The Senate is moving to undue the restriction of Habeas Corpus imposed by the MCA law of 2006, even Senator Arlen Spector wants it undone. We are a nation of laws and to take away a main stay of our law as known since 1215, and the Magna Carta upon which our laws are based. It bothered me as a citizen and as a veteran to see the fear of the adminstration seek to change the way we try people in courts, just because these people who attacked us on 9-11 did not play by our rules.
For us to change our laws so we can handle their cases in ways we as citizens would never accept for ourselves, was just plain wrong. Secret testimony, evidence gathered by torture allowed into court, evidence that defendants lawyers would be denied, the right to allow evidence that can not be cross examined etc. The military courts martial system has worked in this nation for over 200 years, these individuals should be tried as we would try our own military, wether or not they belong to a nation or a terrorist group, the law would hold them accountable. We do NOT need a new way to put people on trial.
I admire the Judges, the military lawyers that have held true to their oaths as officers and judicial officials and refused to get involved in the Bush Administrations attempt at Kangaroo justice. These are true American hero's, they know our legal system that has evolved over the past 200 plus years works, and it should be good enough now.
A tribunal judge, Army Col. Peter Brownback, dismissed the murder and conspiracy charges against Khadr on June 4. He said he lacked jurisdiction to try him because Khadr had not been designated an "unlawful enemy combatant," as required under the 2006 law that authorized military tribunals for foreign terrorism suspects.
Prosecutors asked Brownback to reconsider and reinstate the charges, but he ruled on Friday that they had presented no new evidence or arguments.
A military panel had declared Khadr an "enemy combatant" but Brownback said that did not meet the strict definition of the law that authorized the tribunals.
He said the distinction was critical because international law requires other types of trial for captives who are considered "lawful enemy combatants."
"The term 'unlawful' is not excess baggage, and it is not mere semantics, it is a critical predicate to jurisdiction," Brownback wrote in the ruling.
This quote comes from this Rueters article. I am happy to see real justice be upheld in this great nation.
When we change our laws because of terrorists, then they have won, a small change, but a win none the less. The professional military has decided not to give Al Qaida this victory and instead handed them a defeat they never saw coming.
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