On Monday, the commission threw out the charges of murder and maiming. The presiding military judge, army Colonel Peter E. Brownback III, reasoned that the military had established only that Khadr was an enemy combatant, not an alien unlawful enemy combatant. Thus, according to Col. Brownback, the commission lacked jurisdiction to proceed.
NPR reporters and their other friends probably had visions of UN officials flinging the gates of Guantanamo Bay open with joyful terrorists embracing joyful ACLU lawyers and being interviewed by joyful NPR reporters. Being on Cuba, the reporters could use their fake Spanish accents whenever they hit a Spanish word before reverting to Radio Anglo. Ah, nirvana. But it will not unfold this way.
I figured this was a mere technicality and that the enemy combatants would just have to be reprocessed with a stamp of unlawful enemy combatant placed on their file and away we go.
McCarthy thinks that it is "silly" (follow the link) and will be overturned on appeal. I'm not sure exactly how an appeal would work under this system but if he thinks the ruling is even less than I do, then we'll be on to the military tribunals of these terrorists before too long.
So cancel the champagne. The Lefties will have to wait to storm the Bastille a little longer.
