The Trial of bin Laden’s Driver

Source: nytimes.com

8/11/2008

Re “Panel Convicts bin Laden Driver in Split Verdict” (front page, Aug. 7):

Our husbands were killed on Sept. 11, 2001; thus we have a personal interest in the Guantánamo trials and their outcome.

Since neither the promised closed-circuit TV nor the 9/11 family member trip to Cuba has materialized, we must rely on reporters to be kept informed about these proceedings.

We understand that the practices being used by these military commissions, such as allowing hearsay evidence and coerced testimony, are questionable at best and un-American at worst. What we have not been allowed to see could fill an encyclopedia.

But we do know that it has taken almost seven years for our government to convict Salim Ahmed Hamdan, Osama bin Laden’s driver, of material support of terrorism. What about those who allegedly financed the terrorists, like the Saudis? Wouldn’t this be considered material support of terrorism? When will they be tried?

All Americans should sit up and take notice — if only they had access to the information!

Monica Gabrielle
Lorie Van Auken
Baiting Hollow, N.Y., Aug. 7, 2008

•

To the Editor:

Re “Guilty as Ordered” (editorial, Aug. 7):

I’m not surprised at all that Salim Ahmed Hamdan was acquitted on one of the charges. If I were trying to apply a thin veneer of credibility to my kangaroo court, that is precisely the result I would have scripted for its first trial.

Tracy Brooking
Kennesaw, Ga., Aug. 7, 2008

•

To the Editor:

Has anyone asked what would have happened to the careers of the Army officers comprising the jury if they had found Salim Ahmed Hamdan not guilty of a statute written expressly for him well after he was captured?

Gus Nicholas
Pittsburgh, Aug. 7, 2008

•

To the Editor:

Re “Panel Sentences bin Laden Driver to a Short Term” (front page, Aug. 8):

For any person who ever believed that the term “military justice” is an oxymoron, look no further than the results of the sentencing phase of the Hamdan trial.

Because so many uniformed lawyers, including prosecutors and judges, as well as defense lawyers, all insisted that they would not be party to a complete perversion of the military justice system, in spite of what the civilian establishment wanted, Salim Ahmed Hamdan was found guilty, but essentially sentenced to time served.

Capt. Keith J. Allred of the Navy, the military judge, instructed the uniformed jury members that Mr. Hamdan would be given full credit for the time he already served, so they knew full well when they sentenced him to five and a half years that he would be required to serve only another five months.

Clearly the jury members were not to be swayed by hysterics or undue command pressure. That’s the way it worked when I was in the Navy judge advocate general corps more than 25 years ago, and it’s still working that way today.

Stephen David Dix
Marietta, Ga., Aug. 8, 2008

•

To the Editor:

I do not know Salim Ahmed Hamdan, nor do I know much about what he did or did not do. I do know that the military prison at Guantánamo Bay and the military tribunal system put in place there specifically to avoid recognizing the basic rights of prisoners has made me feel shame for my country.

It was heartening then, to see the Hamdan jury of military officers do what they felt was right in the face of significant government pressure not to (“Panel Sentences bin Laden Driver to a Short Term,” front page, Aug. 8). Their courage and commitment to humanity and fairness put our country’s finest core values on display for the world and made me proud to be an American.

Jim Bristow
San Francisco, Aug. 8, 2008

•

To the Editor:

Osama bin Laden’s driver faces prison while Mr. bin Laden goes free.

What’s wrong with this picture?

Ilya Shlyakhter
Cambridge, Mass., Aug. 8, 2008