Obama To Revive Military Tribunals

Trial balloon after trial balloon was released by the Obama admin about this in to soften the blow for the left. This feels like the last one before an official announcement. The only question unanswered is where are they going to hold the tribunals. For political reasons they do not want to have them in Gitmo, but the more one looks at this, where else could they have them? They are trying to sweeten the pill for the left by claiming they have expanded defendant rights and they won't use testimony gathered through techniques such as waterboarding. I don't think that matters too much since so few of the detainees were given the treatment and the big fish, KSM, confessed in open court right before they shut the tribunals down.

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- In a move that could reignite tensions with liberals in his own party, President Obama is planning on Friday to resume the Bush administration's highly controversial military tribunal system -- which Obama suspended his first week in office -- for some Guantanamo detainees, according to three administration officials. Some of the high-profile terror suspects who are being charged in the tribunal process include Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the self-confessed mastermind of the 9/11 attacks.

The administration officials stressed that the updated system will include expanded due-process rights for the suspects, which administration officials note is consistent with what Obama pushed for as a senator in 2006 in order to improve upon the widely criticized approach created by the Bush administration.

But those enhancements are not likely to calm the concerns of liberal groups, led by the ACLU, which are already furious about Obama's shift this week to block the release of photos showing prisoners allegedly being abused by U.S. personnel in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Anthony Romero, executive director of the ACLU, called the expected new approach on military tribunals "fatally flawed" despite the changes.

This is a good thing and his pledge at the beginning of the term was clearly fodder for the netroots and to buy him some time. The most likely scenario in closing down the prison involved these options:

• Send them to their Home countries.
• Send them to Europe.
• Send them to American Prisons.
• Keep them in Gitmo.

Each option provides rewards and pitfalls, for example sending to them their home countries is problematic to say the least. On the one hand they might go right back to the battlefield, on the other extreme their home countries may kill them outright. Europe, despite "Obama" love has been reluctant to provide tangible assistance to the President. Sending them to American prisons is an option, but once again the NIMBY syndrome and the fear of terror attacks make this unpalatable to many. This leaves us with the last option of keeping Gitmo open to hold trials, those found guilty face punishment and those cleared could be released. (Where they would do prison sentences is another issue, of course the death penalty could be carried out in Gitmo) I fully expect some combination of all these options to be the final outcome. Reality is hard, no matter what the left and Obama pretend.