Guantanamo Judge, Obama at Odds Over Trial Delay

Army Col. James Pohl, a military judge at the U.S. Navy base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, has gone against President Barack Obama’s call to suspend the hearing of the alleged orchestrator of the 2000 USS Cole bombing in Yemen, presenting a surprise challenge to the new president’s authority vis-à-vis Gitmo.

AP via Google News:

The judge, Army Col. James Pohl, said his decision was difficult but necessary to protect “the public interest in a speedy trial.” The ruling came in the case against Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri. The bombing of the Navy destroyer in 2000 in the harbor of Aden, Yemen, killed 17 U.S. sailors.

It seemed to take the Pentagon completely by surprise.

“The Department of Defense is currently reviewing Judge Pohl’s ruling,” said Navy Cmdr. Jeffrey Gordon, a Pentagon spokesman. “We will be in compliance with the President’s orders regarding Guantanamo.”

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U.S. Army / Staff Sgt. Jon Soucy

A U.S. guard watches over an exercise yard outside Camp Five at the Joint Task Force Guantanamo detention center in 2006.