The Hindu : International : Guantanamo trial a test for Bush

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Mar 27, 2006

International

International

Guantanamo trial a test for Bush

Osama's ex-driver denies he is a terrorist

WASHINGTON: His wartime powers undercut once before by the Supreme Court, U.S. President George W. Bush could take a second hit in a case in which Osama bin Laden's former driver is seeking to head off a trial before military officers.

At stake is more than whether Salim Ahmed Hamdan, after nearly four years at the Navy prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, goes on trial for war crimes before a special military commission.

Analysts say if the High Court rejects Mr. Bush's plan to hold such trials for the first time since the aftermath of World War II, it could rein in the President's expanded powers in pursuing and punishing suspected terrorists.

Military trial

In addition to special military trials for Hamdan and others, the Bush administration since the attacks of September 11, 2001, has claimed it has the authority to eavesdrop on telephone conversations without court oversight, aggressively interrogate foreigners and imprison people without giving them traditional legal rights.

Hamdan was one of hundreds of persons captured during the 2001 U.S.-led war that drove the ruling Taliban from power in Afghanistan. The native of Yemen denies that he is a terrorist and claims he took the driving job to provide for his young family.

Hamdan's appeal, set for arguments on Tuesday, is one of the biggest cases of the court's current term, the first for Chief Justice John Roberts. He, however, will not participate in the Hamdan case. Last year, Mr. Roberts was on a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit that ruled unanimously against Hamdan.

It is that ruling that the Supreme Court now is reviewing.

With Mr. Roberts withdrawing from the case, the court could split 4-4, leaving the appeals court ruling in place. A ruling is expected before July.

``The stakes are very high for this administration because it has predicated all of its policies in this war on terror on the principle that the President as commander in chief cannot be constrained by Congress or the courts,'' said Scott Silliman, a former military lawyer who teaches at Duke University.

``If the court in any way limits presidential authority with regard to military commissions, it will spill over into other areas of his authority in this new type of war,'' he said.

A second element of Mr. Bush's terrorism-fighting measures is under scrutiny as the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday examines the President's domestic eavesdropping programme. Since shortly after the attacks of September 11, 2001, the National Security Agency has monitored the international communications of people inside the U.S. when their calls are believed to be linked to Al-Qaeda. — AP

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