[beckett]

So far I have been unable to satisfy myself entirely that these tribunals are a good idea, but today I came a long way towards favoring them after watching a debate between Anthony Lewis and San Diego Union-Tribune columnist Joseph Perkins.

Perkins, taking the pro-military tribunal side, made the compelling point that two crucial pieces of evidence became known to al-Qaeda terrorists as a direct result of open testimony from prior trials:

1. testimony that ground level bombs could not bring down the WTC. It was even suggested by an explosives expert that something like a fully fueled jet would be the only thing that could do real damage to those buildings.
2. testimony that the CIA was able to listen in on Bin Laden's cell phone conversations, causing him to desist permanently from using cell phones.

Disclosures like these put at risk the national security of the United States, arming terrorists with invaluable information. Military tribunals eliminate that problem.

[history_matters]

Good post. Thanks for the insight.

Bump.

[Tunehead54]

Bookmarking - I'd say those are all the reasons you need!