: Anti-Terror Prosecutions In “War On Terror” Falling Apart

There’s a lot of silent conservative commentators now that prominent court cases brought as part of the “war on terror” are collapsing. First, while media hype insured that everyone knew about the arrest of Chaplain James “Yousef” Yee on suspicion of spying for al-Qaida, not many know that he’s been a free man for a few weeks now after being held for 70 days in the brig. The reason? He may never have had classified material in the first place. (It took two months to figure this out?) “If they had any credible reason to believe he was involved in terrorism,” said retired Army Brig. Gen. John Cooke, an expert on military law, “they would not have released him.” With the terrorism rug pulled out from under them, military lawyers are clinging to allegations of sexual misconduct, a-la Clinton, to save face. These kinds of charges make the system look “dubious and silly,” commented Eugene Fidell, Yee’s civilian lawyer. This debacle is accompanied by major rulings yesterday that says suspects under detention – the most prominent of whom is alleged “dirty bomb” suspect Jose Padilla, must have access to attorneys, whether they are US citizens or not. “We simply cannot accept the government’s position,” wrote Judge Stephen Reinhardt for the court’s majority in one of the cases, “that the executive branch possesses the unchecked authority to imprison indefinitely any persons, foreign citizens included, on territory under the sole jurisdiction and control of the United States, without permitting such prisoners recourse of any kind to any judicial forum.” Genuine cases against those who wish us harm can only be strengthened by sticking to due process, argues Michael Ratner, who is working on behalf of Guantanamo detainees. “Can the United States pick up people anywhere in the world, take them to an offshore prison camp and not have any hearings at all? Are we going to be a state that’s ruled by law and by checks and balances and the Constitution and human rights?”

Shahed Amanullah is editor-in-chief of altmuslim.com.