The Obama Administration will announce this afternoon what's been expected for about a year now: Self-described 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheik Mohammed won't be tried in a New York civilian court as originally planned and instead will go before a military commission at Guantanamo Bay. That's an unusual way to follow up…
CIA director Leon Panetta said that if the agency does catch Osama bin Laden or Ayman al-Zawahiri (ha, good one) — he'd send their asses straight to Guantanamo Bay: "We would probably move them quickly into military jurisdiction [...] then eventually move them probably to Guantanamo." Good luck with all that.
Remember when everyone peed their pants about trying embassy bomber Ahmed Ghailani in a U.S. civilian court? He was just sentenced to life in prison. Maybe now we can try the rest of the Guantanamo detainees here?
It's not exactly news that U.S. personnel wantonly tortured detainees at Guantanamo Bay, but a newly released Army document shows an Army psychologist discussing the torture in unusually stark terms: "The only way to extract information was more physical pain."
The Obama administration has loudly opposed a provision of the omnibus spending bill, passed last week by the House, that would ban the transfer of Guantanamo Bay detainees to U.S. soil, even for trial.
Being the executive chef at Osama bin Laden's "Star of Jihad" base was once considered a stepping stone to bigger things, but Ibrahim al-Qosi got 14 years in Gitmo for running the kitchen there. He's expected to serve two years.
The Pentagon is upset with the non-profit website WikiLeaks.org for publishing documents it says are a "threat to the US Army" — like hiding Gitmo prisoners from the Red Cross — and for being supported by the CIA. Huh? [NYT]
Ex-Guantanamo guard feels bad about the abuses he witnessed. Friends ex-detainee on Facebook. Ex-detainee responds. BBC flies guard to London to meet and apologize. They crack jokes. I think we've found a 10 pm show for NBC.
Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the man who attempted to blow up his crotch on a flight to Detroit, is being held in a federal prison in Michigan. His bail is scheduled to be set on January 8. Where is the outrage?
