Posted on 07/01/2006 6:13:32 PM PDT by managusta
Five supreme Court justices left President George W Bush's policy on Guantanamo Bay in chaos last week but it was a diligent career navy officer who plotted the legal downfall of his commander-in-chief.
Lt Cdr Charles Swift, 44, an experienced military defence attorney, was expected to draft a simple plea bargain after prosecutors requested the appointment of a lawyer to represent Osama bin -Laden's driver in 2003.
Instead, he launched a series of ground-breaking legal challenges that ended with the ruling by America's highest court that the military commissions backed by Mr Bush for international terrorism suspects were unlawful.
"As an officer, I have the deepest respect for the President," he told The Sunday Telegraph after the hearing. "But as an officer, it is also my duty to point out when an order is wrong. What protects our democracy is that we do not just follow orders blindly.
"There was often a real Alice in Wonderland quality to this case," he said. "They had already decided that the detainees were terrorists so didn't have normal rights, but then they wanted to hold a commission to determine that they were terrorists."
Lt Cdr Swift, a 19-year US Navy veteran, could not hide his elation as he walked down the marble steps of the Supreme Court in full uniform on Thursday after the ruling, although he acknowledged that his role had not endeared him to everyone.
"I'm really not worrying whether I'm the most popular man in the US military today," he declared cheerfully. "You don't win any popularity contests by conducting a defence but I can't do my job by opinion poll."
Lt Cdr Swift has received few direct criticisms for standing up for the legal rights of men seen by many of his comrades - not to mention much of the American public - as terrorists. But his military career is likely to come to an obligatory end next year if, as he expects, he fails for the second time to win promotion.
When he finally got home on Thursday, his wife, an airline pilot, told him how surprised she was that he had won. Next day he received a hero's reception from fellow military defence lawyers in northern Virginia, including a hug and kiss from a female colleague "that probably breached military protocol".
Just as rewarding, he said, was that a senior military prosecutor and government legal officer also congratulated him on a job well done, even though they did not like the conclusion.
By a five-to-three majority, the justices ruled that the US military could not continue to try detainees using special military panels - the method that the White House devised to start emptying a prison that has become an international embarrassment.
The Supreme Court concluded that the commissions denied defendants basic legal rights and that if detainees were to be tried for war crimes, the proceedings should be held either by court martial or in a civil court.
The justices also found that conspiracy - the single charge laid against Lt Cdr Swift's client, Salim Ahmed Hamdan, a 36-year-old Yemeni - did not qualify as a war crime. "This case is not about my client avoiding justice," Lt Cdr Swift said. "It's about what form of justice he should face."
His delight was nothing to do with a defeat for the White House or Donald Rumsfeld, the defence secretary and plaintiff in the case; rather, he said: "This vindicates the military justice system and I'm very proud of that. This ruling reinforces a huge difference between us and our opponents. We believe in common decency, fairness and the rule of law. Our opponents don't."
On Thursday afternoon he telephoned Hamdan at the camp 1,300 miles away and told him of the ruling through an interpreter. "I think he was awe-struck that the court would rule for him and give a little man like him an equal chance," he said. "Where he's from, that's not the case."
Last I looked Guantanamo is still there and will be for the forseable future.
...And many of the prisoners will be tried and executed. The supreme court ruling was procedural and Bush will win in the end.
The defense counsel was doing his job. Some justices clearly were not.
So Congress has to authorize the tribunals. They will after break. He's an attorney, he mounted a defense. Who is this poster to call a naval officer treasonous for that?
That's the kind of reasoning that could lose the WOT for us. They laugh--no, make that sneer--at our decency and fairness, and use our own "rule of law" against us.
he was assigned a case as part of his regular duty, and he did his job. That doesn't make him guilty of treason.
It wasn't treason. Don't know who did it, but they don't know what they are talking about.
"So Congress has to authorize the tribunals. They will after break. He's an attorney, he mounted a defense. Who is this poster to call a naval officer treasonous for that?"
Well said. I don't blame him, I blame the 5 Supremes who made this ruling...
Yup. George W. Bush is Commander-in-Chief and the Supreme Court hasn't changed a thing. So, two CO-EQUAL branches of government disagree on something - - oh well. Can you imagine how disappointing it would be if Dubya caved to a bunch of scumbags in black robes and ceded control of Executive branch powers to them? I don't see it happening.
I agree with the three of you that there was certainly no treason. This guy's "elation" makes him a simple scumbag, that's all.
I agree, the officer did his duty. Based on the "reasoning" behind the verdict, it appears the result wasn't as much due to his legal skills as the 5 justices who were determined to create the outcome they wanted.
I got the impression that the decision COULD keep Hamdan in Gitmo or elsewhere indefinitely...THAT doesn't sound like a victory for him at all..
I will not try to look into this Officer's heart, but I do KNOW one thing, we NEED to significantly REDUCE the influence lawyers have on today's modern warfare. We need to let battlefield commanders run the war, rather than asking for a legal opinion before they make ANY TACTICAL decision.
His liberal leanings were apparent, especially when he said he actually "liked" Hamdan, and went to Yemen to visit his friggin' family!
He seemed rather effiminate in his mannerisms and used "you know" in every other phrase.
wonderful... i think i'll go throw up my supper now.
Look at him - his cover's crooked: What's that tell ya?
In fact, he may very well have done little more than speed the guy on his way to an early execution.
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