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War on Terrorism

U.S. Judge Rules against Military Detention of U.S. Terror Suspects — But What About the Foreigners in Guantánamo?

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Last week in New York, U.S. District Judge Katherine Forrest took a stand against a contentious provision inserted into the current National Defense Authorization Act (PDF). She ruled (PDF) that it was unconstitutional for lawmakers to demand that, in future, those accused of involvement with terrorism — including U.S. citizens and residents — be subjected ... [click for more]

Why No Trials for Abu Zubaydah and Seven Other “High-Value Detainees” in Guantánamo?

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Two weeks ago, when Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four other “high-value detainees” were arraigned at Guantánamo in preparation for their forthcoming trial by military commission, they brought to eight the number of “high-value detainees” tried, put forward for trials, or having agreed to a plea deal to avoid a trial and secure a reduced sentence. In total, [click for more]

Chaos at Guantánamo as the 9/11 Trial Begins

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On Saturday, the eyes of the world were on Guantánamo, as Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four other men accused of planning and facilitating the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 — Ramzi bin al-Shibh, Ali Abd al-Aziz Ali, Mustafa Ahmed al-Hawsawi, and Walid bin Attash — appeared in a courtroom for the first time since December 2008. All were ... [click for more]

Torture: The Bush Administration on Trial

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Law-abiding U.S. citizens have been appalled that Jose Rodriguez, the director of the CIA’s National Clandestine Service until his retirement in 2007, was invited to appear on CBS’s 60 Minutes program last weekend to promote his book, “Hard Measures: How Aggressive CIA Actions After 9/11 Saved American Lives,” in which he defends the use of ... [click for more]

Obama, bin Laden, and Mitt

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The partisan squabbling over the killing of Osama bin Laden is a typical election-year distraction, effectively squelching discussion of more important matters one year after the execution of the al-Qaeda chief executive. Aided by cable-TV talking heads, Americans are spending too much time speculating over whether presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney would have given the order to get bin ... [click for more]

Canada’s Shameful Treatment of Omar Khadr

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Last week, the Canadian government received a formal request for the return of Omar Khadr from Guantánamo Bay. Julie Carmichael, an aide to Public Safety Minister Vic Toews, told the Globe and Mail, “The government of Canada has just received a completed application for the transfer of prisoner Omar Ahmed Khadr. A decision will be made on ... [click for more]

The Torture Trials at Guantánamo

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In the last few weeks, Guantánamo has been under the spotlight as, for the first time since Barack Obama took office, the military-commission trial system — the government’s preferred method for trying terror suspects held in Guantánamo — has been readied for trying “high-value detainees,” i.e., those who, as well as being held in Guantánamo, were previously [click for more]

Guantánamo and Recidivism: New Report Debunks the Government’s Inflated Claims

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On Monday, April 9, the Center for Policy and Research at Seton Hall University School of Law in New Jersey released a new report, “National Security Deserves Better: ‘Odd’ Recidivism Numbers Undermine the Guantánamo Policy Debate” (PDF). It analyzes the fundamental problems with the claims made by the Pentagon and the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) regarding ... [click for more]

Ten Years of Torture

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Ten years ago, on the evening of March 28, 2002, the Bush administration officially embarked on its “high-value detainee” program in the “war on terror” that had been declared in the wake of the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, when Zayn al-Abidin Muhammad Husayn (more commonly identified as Abu Zubaydah), was captured in a house raid ... [click for more]

Obama Codifies Indefinite Detention

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In yet another reversal of his professed commitment to the rule of law, President Obama says he will sign the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which formalizes his authority to imprison terrorism suspects indefinitely without charge or trial. Where is the “progressive” outrage? George W. Bush and Obama both claimed that the 2001 Authorization for the Use of Military Force (AUMF) ... [click for more]

The “Taliban Five” and the Forgotten Afghan Prisoners in Guantánamo

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In the last three months, much discussion has focused on the possibility that, as part of negotiations aimed at securing peace in Afghanistan, the United States would release five high-level Taliban prisoners in Guantánamo. Almost entirely forgotten are 12 other Afghan prisoners at Guantánamo who are mostly so insignificant that they have no one to lobby for them and ... [click for more]

Guantánamo and Recidivism: The Media’s Ongoing Failure to Question Official Statistics

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Last week, the director of National Intelligence, in consultation with the director of the CIA and the director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, issued a two-page unclassified summary, entitled, “Summary of the Reengagement of Detainees Formerly Held at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba (PDF),” which provided information about the supposed “recidivism” of former prisoners. According to ... [click for more]
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