A little hard to reconcile this with Article II, I would say:
Army Col. James Pohl said he would rule Monday on a defense motion asking that accused al Qaeda plotter Abd el Rahim Nashiri not have his eyes and ears covered when he's brought to court. Nashiri is scheduled to be arraigned for Monday on charges that he conspired in the October 2000 suicide bombing of the USS Cole that killed 17 American sailors.
The prospect of the hearing is setting up a tug-of-war over whether the Pentagon will honor President Barack Obama's Jan. 22 Executive Order instructing Gates to stop the military commissions for 120 days. Pohl last week refused a prosecution motion for the delay, saying "the public interest in a speedy trial will be harmed by the delay.''
"Whether the Pentagon will honor an Executive Order"? Who's running the country, anyhow?
Oh, and as a lagniappe, the Pentagon is using military families as political props:
Since the ruling, Pentagon prosecutors have invited the families of some of the dead sailors to witness Monday's proceedings, which could still be derailed if Defense Secretary Robert Gates or another Pentagon official withdraws the charges. Reporters were told Thursday to be ready to travel to the base Saturday from Washington, D.C.
Saturday? Just in time for the shouting heads on Sunday?
- lambert's blog
- Login or register to post comments
- 1+[CSE]+#b94+
Front page
Comments
I'm missing something, here.
Why are they bringing him into court blind-folded and ear-plugged?
But, we've always been at war with Eastasia...
And why is the Pohl guy getting a second chance to refuse to
follow a presidential order? Something's strange about that, no? I thought officers who fiercely disagreed made their case and then either STFU
and followed commands or resigned....
Where is Gates in all this--he certainly passed on the exec order to his department, I would think.
Who usually leads military coup d'etats? The middle level officers? The colonels?
And...are the blindfolds and earplugs SOP for hearings down there?