QUOTE("Washington Post")
White House Criticizes Guantanamo Trial Ruling
By Josh White and Howard Schneider
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, June 5, 2007; 7:56 AM
The Bush administration today criticized the decision by military judges to dismiss war crimes charges against two men being held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and defended the system of military commissions set up to try detainees at the facility.
"We don't agree with the ruling on the military commissions," White House spokesman Tony Fratto said from Prague, where Bush is traveling en route to a meeting in Germany of the major industrialized countries.
"In no way does this decision affect the appropriateness of the military commission system," Fratto said, though he also noted that the decision Monday in two separate cases showed that those involved are "taking great care to be within the letter of the law."
Two military judges on Monday dismissed charges against a Canadian and a Yemeni detained at Guantanamo Bay, ruling that their war-crimes trials cannot move forward under the current military commissions law, a decision that could delay future legal proceedings at the U.S. detention facility.
Army Col. Peter Brownback's decision suspended the case against Omar Khadr, a 20-year-old detainee who allegedly killed a U.S. serviceman during fighting in Afghanistan in 2002. Khadr, whom the military has labeled an "enemy combatant," was scheduled to be arraigned on Monday in what was to be the second case to go before a military commission at Guantanamo Bay.
But Brownback decided that the Military Commissions Act (MCA) of 2006, which sets the rules for trying detainees at Guantanamo Bay, limits such commissions to "unlawful enemy combatants" and concluded that the military has never classified Khadr as "unlawful."
Charges against Yemeni national Salim Ahmed Hamdan were later dropped by another judge on the same grounds.
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By Josh White and Howard Schneider
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, June 5, 2007; 7:56 AM
The Bush administration today criticized the decision by military judges to dismiss war crimes charges against two men being held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and defended the system of military commissions set up to try detainees at the facility.
"We don't agree with the ruling on the military commissions," White House spokesman Tony Fratto said from Prague, where Bush is traveling en route to a meeting in Germany of the major industrialized countries.
"In no way does this decision affect the appropriateness of the military commission system," Fratto said, though he also noted that the decision Monday in two separate cases showed that those involved are "taking great care to be within the letter of the law."
Two military judges on Monday dismissed charges against a Canadian and a Yemeni detained at Guantanamo Bay, ruling that their war-crimes trials cannot move forward under the current military commissions law, a decision that could delay future legal proceedings at the U.S. detention facility.
Army Col. Peter Brownback's decision suspended the case against Omar Khadr, a 20-year-old detainee who allegedly killed a U.S. serviceman during fighting in Afghanistan in 2002. Khadr, whom the military has labeled an "enemy combatant," was scheduled to be arraigned on Monday in what was to be the second case to go before a military commission at Guantanamo Bay.
But Brownback decided that the Military Commissions Act (MCA) of 2006, which sets the rules for trying detainees at Guantanamo Bay, limits such commissions to "unlawful enemy combatants" and concluded that the military has never classified Khadr as "unlawful."
Charges against Yemeni national Salim Ahmed Hamdan were later dropped by another judge on the same grounds.
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Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.), a sponsor of the MCA, said in an interview yesterday that he thinks the law applies to Guantanamo Bay detainees, but added that he is pleased that judges are scrutinizing it.
"This is a good example of where, in a rule of law context, words matter," Graham said. "I readily understand that in the terrorist world, words don't matter. This is one of our strengths, not a weakness."
"This is a good example of where, in a rule of law context, words matter," Graham said. "I readily understand that in the terrorist world, words don't matter. This is one of our strengths, not a weakness."
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