Military Judge Puts Obama Administration in a Pickle

A military judge has refused the request of the Obama Administration to put the trial of a man accused of attacking the USS Cole in 2000 on hold for 120 days. The accused, Abu al-Nashiri, is currently held in Guantanamo Bay and the Obama Administration is trying to figure what to do with the detainees in light of a recent executive order to close the facility within one year. The judge's decision deals a blow to the administration's plans of halting all proceedings while determining whether the detainees are going to be released, transferred to a different facility or prosecuted under a different set of rules.

Abu al-Nashiri is scheduled to be arraigned on February 9th and, due to the judge's refusal, the only way his proceedings will stop is if the judge presiding over the entire military tribunal process dismisses all charges without prejudice. While such dismissal will not prevent the Pentagon from reinstating the charges in a future proceeding, such move will undoubted delay his trial and will open the floodgates of motions to dismiss from the other detainees' defense counsel.

Who would have ever thought that within a two to three week period after Barack Obama became President, not only would Guantanamo Bay be closed, but that all the charges against some or all of the detainees would be dismissed? Are we in the twilight zone? Did the events of September 11, 2001 ever occur or was it just a dream? I am thinking that there are many in our current administration who think it was all just a bad dream, which we all finally woke up from when George W. Bush rode off into the Texas sunset.

Folks, I wish it were a dream. I wish it was just a really bad nightmare. But it's not. It's reality and I am not sure if enough of our politicians are living in reality. Our administration has 357 days to figure out what it's going to do with these detainees. With over 60 former detainees returning to terrorism after their release, some of which are now top leaders of Al-Qaida, anything short of prosecuting and putting these detainees away for life will only make our country less safe. Let's hope President Obama does the right thing.