Gitmo lawyer consulted priest on trials' fairness

[inanna]

Source: AP via Yahoo

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - Struggling with orders to prosecute a young detainee at Guantanamo Bay, Army Lt. Col. Darrel Vandeveld went online and consulted a priest for help with his concerns about the fairness of the military tribunals.

Vandeveld described a crisis of conscience over the prisoners' treatment and the ethical handling of cases that led him to quit last month.

"I am beginning to have grave misgivings about what I am doing, and what we are doing as a country," he wrote in the e-mail on Aug 5. "I no longer want to participate in the system, but I lack the courage to quit. I am married, with four children, and not only will they suffer, I'll lose a lot of friends."

Vandeveld has sparked criticism of the tribunals with claims that the government withheld evidence from detainees. But his correspondence with the priest and other statements suggest his defection was driven also by discomfort with the unforgiving treatment of detainees at the isolated U.S. Navy base in Cuba.


Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081015/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/cb_guantanamo_military_trials;_ylt=Ak3iK5jBxuHR6YUHbwJZ7Ae3IxIF

[14thColony]

1. I was wondering what would happen when the rubber met the road

I've had plenty of dealings with the Judge Advocate General Corps and the Area Defense Counsel Corps (the military public defenders) during the course of my career. They have always struck me as being all about the law and the integrity of the system above all else, as opposed to chasing convictions by any means possible.

It clearly took some casual observers by surprise when the military defense attorneys appointed to defend the accused at Guantanamo, instead of rolling over and mounting a pretend defense like some expected, immediately launched a full-on assault on the entire system in defense of their clients. Even as a military officer with experience in this realm (as a commander), even I was surprised by the unrelentingly intense defense (PR offensive really) mounted by the military ADCs.

Now it appears that this same principal of 'integrity of the system above all else' is manifesting publicly among the JAGs (prosecutors) as well. Some may see this and other examples of JAGs protesting the system or resigning as 'rats trying to abandon the sinking ship,' but I would disagree. I think that after years of trying to work inside the system to force it to be fair and in compliance with standards of jurisprudence, an increasing number of JAGs have said 'enough - I will not be part of this any longer.'

I guess that's the problem with having an administration with so little military experience - they had no idea the kind of people they were putting in the trenches to do their bidding on these tribunals. I guess they expected they'd all be good little soldiers since they're military. Very bad assumption.

[Bonhomme Richard]

2. Wow! A story about an actual christian. n/t