Cole bomber tribunal set

Washington Post:

The Defense Department announced yesterday that it would proceed with the capital trial of the alleged planner of the 2000 attack on the USS Cole, signaling its intent to push forward with prosecutions even with the future of the military justice system for detainees in doubt.

Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates has ordered up plans to close the military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in case President-elect Barack Obama moves in that direction. Obama has said he will close the facility, but he has not said whether he will scrap military commissions. However, members of Obama's transition team appear skeptical of the military commissions system and more disposed to prosecutions in federal court or through courts-martial, people who have spoken with the team members said on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of those talks.

Susan J. Crawford, the Pentagon's top official for military commissions, yesterday referred to a military commission for charges that were filed last June against Abd al Rahim al-Nashiri, a Saudi citizen of Yemeni descent. Nashiri is accused of murder, terrorism and war crimes for helping to organize the attack on the U.S. warship, an al-Qaeda strike in the Yemeni port of Aden that killed 17 sailors and wounded 47 others.

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I don't think gates can scrap a system authorized by Congress and approved by the Supreme Court. The skepticism of the Obama administration is based on their prejudice toward the failed lawfare system of the Clinton administration.

The tribunals make much more sense for terrorist who game the system to use trial discovery to find out about our intelligence system so they can avoid detection before their next strike.