Guantanamo Update

Just a note here that the Obama administration is acting rather strangely in regards to the Guantanamo detainees. They are allowing habeas corpus trials to go forward, which I guess is a good thing, but on the other hand their attorneys are still taking the position of the Bush administration, that is, they are opposing all releases. So far 38 cases have been tried, and the judges, almost all of them Bush appointees, have found that there are no grounds whatsoever for holding 30 of the 38. The worst of the worst, indeed. The Obama administration is still refusing to allow any discussion of the methods used to obtain the evidence they introduce, and we know that much of it comes from torture. They are still holding very tightly to the hedge of "state secrets" the Bush people created to shield their crimes.

I think they are doing this from a desire to retain control of the situation. Obama thinks it should be up to him to decide which Bush officials should be prosecuted for wrongdoing, and when. But once federal judges get their hands on the secret evidence of torture and lies, they could order their own investigations, as the judge in the Moussavi case ordered the investigation of why the videotapes of interrogations were destroyed.

I can't say I am surprised at the generally cautious way Obama has approached all of these matters -- they are very explosive, and he seems to be a cautious man -- but I am a little disappointed.