Guantanamo Jury Decision Blow to President Bush
"GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba - The Yemeni man convicted at the first Guantanamo war crimes trial will be eligible for release in less than five months after receiving a light sentence from a jury made up of U.S. military officers.
The victory for Salim Hamdan, a former driver for Osama bin Laden, was a rebuke to military prosecutors who portrayed him as a hardened al-Qaida warrior and sought a sentence of 30 years to life in prison."
Rightly or wrongly, "Guantanamo Bay" has become synonymous with prisoner abuse and humiliation. The Bush Administration backs ill treatment and even torture (see http://loveshade.org/blog/2008/03/waterboarding_president_bush_f.html) of people who are legally innocent. This decision, that Hamdan got a 5 1/2 sentence after already serving over five years, must be a blow to the administration.
We can hope, as the American Political climate is headed for major changes, that the illusive and sometimes illusionary concept called "justice" can move beyond revenge and torturing the legally innocent. We hope.
See the article by Mike Melia, Associated Press writer, at http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/guantanamo_bin_laden_s_driver