From the Associated Press:
It looks like the administration is going out of its way to avoid trying terrorists in military commissions. The American people and Congress don’t want Gitmo detainees released or transferred to the United States, but the administration really wants to try some of them here. So, they’ve reportedly come up with a compromise — and a strange one at that. The detainees can be tried here, but if they are convicted they will be transferred to…where? And let’s say the courts acquit some of these detainees, where do they go then, any country that will take them? How likely do you think it is that a country will agree to take in a former Gitmo detainee after being held there for years and then facing a trial in the U.S.? In short, that is not very likely at all. Of course, this is assuming the AP’s account is accurate. We still have to see the wording of the compromise, or additional reporting on it. But if this is accurate, then it is hard to see how this could be much different than just transferring Gitmo detainees to the U.S. for an indefinite stay. Update: I’m hearing the AP didn’t get this one right. All anyone I’ve talked to is familiar with is language preventing Gitmo detainees from being transferred to the U.S. until the president has a concrete plan. This is most likely a garbled account, but I will update with more later when I find out what, exactly, is driving this report.
