Bush Transfers High-Value Prisoners to Gitmo
The AP is reporting that the president is transferring 14 key terrorist leaders, including Khalid Sheik Mohammed, above, from secret CIA custody to the U.S. military-run prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to be prepared for eventual trials. The prisoners will apparently be afforded some rights consistent with the Geneva conventions. Yeah, well, Bush also signed a bill in December outlawing the torture of detainees, and then made a "signing statement" announcing his intention to flout that law. So excuse us for being cynical about the president's motives and intentions here. UPDATE: Former DOJ lawyer and law prof Marty Lederman says Bush's new bill actually authorizes "enhanced interrogation techniques."
The AP is reporting that the president is transferring 14 key terrorist leaders, including Khalid Sheik Mohammed, at right, from secret CIA custody to the U.S. military-run prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to be prepared for eventual trials. The prisoners will apparently be afforded some rights consistent with the Geneva conventions.
UPDATE
: Former DOJ lawyer and law prof Marty Lederman says Bush’s new bill actually authorizes “enhanced interrogation techniques.”
Dig, Root, GrowAP:
President Bush has transferred 14 key terrorist leaders from secret CIA custody to the U.S. military-run prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to be prepared for eventual trials, a senior administration official said Wednesday.
The high-value suspected terrorists include Khalid Sheik Mohammed, believed to be the No. 3 al-Qaida leader before he was captured in Pakistan in 2003; Ramzi Binalshibh, an alleged would-be Sept. 11, 2001, hijacker; and Abu Zubaydah, who was believed to be a link between Osama bin Laden and many al-Qaida cells before he was also captured in Pakistan, in March 2002.
Bush was revealing the move in a speech from the White House, with families of those killed in the 2001 attacks making up part of the audience. The announcement, which the White House touted beforehand and hoped would be televised live on several networks, comes as Bush has sought with a series of speeches to sharpen the focus on national security two months before high-stakes congressional elections.
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