Bin Laden Driver Was Not Read Rights, Court Told -- Filed Under WTF.

Salim Ahmed Hamdan, second from left, appears with appointed council Lt. Cmdr. Charles Swift, third from left, during a preliminary hearing at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, Aug. 24, 2004. Getty Images

From Reuters:

GUANTANAMO BAY U.S. NAVAL BASE, Cuba, July 24 (Reuters) - A driver for Osama bin Laden was not told of any rights against self-incrimination under years of interrogation, FBI agents told the Guantanamo war crimes court on Thursday.

"Our policy at the time was not to read Miranda rights," FBI special agent Robert Fuller said in testimony at the U.S. military commission trial of Salim Hamdan on charges of conspiracy and providing material support for terrorism.

Fuller was referring to the Miranda v. Arizona U.S. Supreme Court decision in 1966, which held that potential criminal suspects in custody must be informed of rights to an attorney and against self-incrimination.

Read more ....

My Comment: I am all for lawyers being with American forces on the front line, in foxholes, in outposts on the Pakistani border, on missions hunting down Al Qaeda terror teams, with snipers hidden for days in their hiding places, helping bomb disposal units, assisting wounded soldiers who got wounded because of legal rules of engagement, eating only K-rations while with the troops, not bathing and and sleeping outside for weeks, .... etc. etc. etc.

Prosecution: Bin Laden's Driver Knew Hijackers Aiming For Capitol

Salim Hamdan attends his trial inside the war crimes courthouse at Camp Justice, the legal complexof the U.S. Military Commissions at Guantanamo Bay, July 22, 2008. (AP Photo/Janet Hamlin, Pool)

From CNN:

GUANTANAMO BAY, Cuba (CNN) -- Osama bin Laden's former driver knew the target of one of the hijacked planes on September 11, 2001, prosecutors said as the military commission trial of Salim Hamdan began Tuesday.

Hamdan told U.S. interrogators the fourth plane was aimed at "the dome," apparently a reference to the U.S. Capitol, the prosecutors said. The plane crashed in a field in Pennsylvania after the passengers fought the hijackers.

Read more ....

More News On Osama Bin Laden's Driver

Prosecutor Says Hamdan Heard Bin Laden Describe Target of United 93 -- Wall Street Journal
Bin Laden driver 'knew 9/11 aim' -- BBC News
Bin Laden's driver knew 9/11 target, lawyer says -- L.A. Times
War-Crimes Trials Open With Bin Laden's Ex-Driver -- Wall Street Journal
Two Sides at Guantánamo Trial Paint Starkly Different Pictures of the Defendant -- New York Times
U.S. depicts Hamdan as insider during war crimes trial -- USA Today
Judge Limits Hamdan Prosecution -- Time Magazine
Bin Laden driver evidence dismissed -- Al Jazeera

My Comment: Right after I learned about the fourth plane, my guess .... I repeat that it is a guess .... my guess was that it's mission was to either hit the Pentagon (again), the Washington monument, or the Dome of the Capital building. From the air, these are the only recognizable sites when flying into Washington.

As for Salim Hamdan's role in terrorism .... he was Osama Bin Laden's personal chauffeur. This was a job that was not given to anyone on the street. Bin Laden was and is always concerned about his security. I am sure that Salim Hamdan was only selected after being completed vetted by Bin Laden's personal security team and by Bin Laden himself. One will not need to forget that it was Osama Bin Laden who authorized the assassination in September, 2003, of Ahmad Shah Massoud, Leader of The Northern Alliance, by men that he trusted. I am sure that Bin Laden does not want to suffer from the same fate.

If Salim Hamdan was not a fanatic for the cause, and was not personally loyal to Osama bin Ladin .... I am sure that he would never have gotten the job.

Update: Witness: Hamdan Had 2 Missiles When Arrested: Washington Post ... O.K., this does not look good for Hamda.