U.S. Delays First War Crimes Trial Pending Ruling

From MSNBC:

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - A military judge on Friday postponed the first war crimes tribunal at Guantanamo Bay, saying he wants to wait until the Supreme Court makes its highly anticipated ruling on the right of detainees to challenge their confinement in civil courts.

Navy Capt. Keith Allred ruled the trial for Osama bin Laden’s former driver should be delayed seven weeks, until July 21, in case the Supreme Court ruling affects his case. He scheduled pretrial hearings to begin a week earlier.

A Supreme Court ruling is expected by June 30. Defense lawyers for Salim Ahmed Hamdan, whose trial was scheduled to start June 2, had requested a postponement. Military prosecutors had said they were eager to go to trial.

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UPDATE: The Counter Terrorism Blog describes who is a typical Gitmo inmate.

My Comment: It has been almost 7 years since 9-11. The Nuremberg Trials, after having the frame work decided upon during the war(1943 - 1945), proceeded very quickly at the conclusion of the Second World War taking at least four more years to complete all trials. It is a shame that the first war crimes tribunal at Guantanamo Bay cannot proceed in such a fashion.

Or is it?

I guess it is a testament to the times that these trials were delayed in the hope that intelligence and other information can be obtained from the prisoners ..... and when it is determined that no more information can be obtained, the preparations for trials can then proceed.

If this is the case, then we are really in the beginning of the legal process, and its conclusion will take a few years. If the Nuremberg Trials can be used as a standard, we are looking at four more years of legal arguments, trial, and final judgement.

Maybe valuable intelligence that prevented other attacks was gathered from the prisoners during this time, but on another level justice must be served ....... and in my opinion, the sooner justice is rendered the better it will be for all. It has personally been frustrating to see these prisoners receive the sympathy and support from not only many in the Muslim world, but also from the West. I can hope that just like the Nuremberg Trials, the war crime trials in Guantanamo Bay will also show the barbarism and inhumanity of these men .... men who clearly have no place to exist in a civilized world.