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Going backwards

As we all know, David Hicks has now spent nigh on 5 years at Guantanamo Bay - with no end in sight, given that there are presently no tribunals, or anything, to try him. It will be recalled that the military commissions established by the Bush Administration were struck down by the US Supreme Court. Now this:

"The Bush administration’s proposal to bring leading terrorism suspects before military tribunals met stiff resistance Thursday from key Republicans and top military lawyers who said some provisions would not withstand legal scrutiny or do enough to repair the nation’s tarnished reputation internationally.

Democrats, meanwhile, said they were inclined to go along with Senate Republicans drafting an alternative to the White House plan, one that would allow defendants more rights. That left Republicans to argue among themselves about what the tribunals would look like and threatened to rob the issue of the political momentum the White House hoped it would provide going into the closely fought midterm elections."

Read the complete NY Times article here. As matters stand it looks like Hicks could while away at Gitmo for some time yet, unless A-G Ruddock does what he should as the #1 law- officer in the country - demand Hicks' release.

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