| Submit your comments on this article |
| Home Front: WoT |
| Appointment Of Admiral Seen As Key In 9/11 Trial Switch |
| 2010-05-18 |
| The appointment of a well-respected ex-Navy lawyer to oversee war-crime trials is being seen in military legal circles as a sign the Obama administration might reverse its decision to bring Khalid Shaikh Mohammed to New York for a civilian trial. At the same time, a pending speedy-trial ruling in a second terror case in New York could give Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. an escape route through which he could switch the trial of Shaikh Mohammed (KSM) from federal court back to a military system set up by former President George W. Bush and Congress. A month after the administration signaled a reversal, the Pentagon, with significant White House input, named retired Navy Vice Adm. Bruce MacDonald as the war-crimes convening authority. In that post, the Navy's former top lawyer is the official who brings criminal charges, selects jury pools, approves defense- lawyer expenses and makes other rulings. Charles Stimson, the Pentagon's director of detainee affairs in the Bush administration and who still monitors terror prosecutions as a legal analyst at the Heritage Foundation, noted the significance of the MacDonald appointment. "Picking Bruce does not prove that KSM is going to commission, but what it does show is that Bruce would not have taken the leap if he did not think he was going to get some substantive cases, because he's a worker guy. He likes real work," said Mr. Stimson. "And the White House and [Defense Department General Counsel] Jeh Johnson would not have asked Bruce to come over." Added Mr. Stimson, a former prosecutor and currently a Navy reserve judge advocate: "They are essentially bringing 'Michael Jordan' in to head up commissions. And what that tells you is that they either want Michael Jordan there to handle the relatively uninteresting cases, or they're bringing him in because they want to be prepared if and when they have to relent and send KSM back there for lack of a better political option. So they want to have the A Team in place." Adm. MacDonald has a master's degree in international law from Harvard University. He rose to the rank of three-star admiral and the Navy's top uniformed lawyer. He has provided advice to Congress and the Pentagon on detainee affairs. Retired Brig. Gen. Thomas Hemingway agreed that Adm. MacDonald would not have taken the job unless he expected to oversee major terror cases. Gen. Hemingway, who was recalled to active duty in 2003 to become the chief legal adviser to the then-convening authority, said moving KSM back to a tribunal is "the right decision to make." |
| Posted by:Sherry |