Boston.com / News / World / Deal frees US 'enemy combatant': "The accused Taliban fighter's case led to a Supreme Court decision in June limiting the president's wartime powers. Because the Bush administration is releasing Hamdi, it will not have to comply with the court's order that it give Hamdi and his attorney a chance to view and rebut any evidence against him before a neutral decision maker.
The release of Hamdi -- a former Guantanamo Bay detainee who the Bush administration once contended was too dangerous to be allowed a lawyer -- is the latest in a series of highly touted terrorism cases that have ended without convictions in recent months."
Pudentilla does not know the facts of this case. Nor does anyone else - with the possible exception of Mr. Ashcroft and his minions. Mr. Hamdi could be Osama's right hand man, or a pathetic victim of circumstance. Mr. Ashcroft, however, apparently believed he did not have the evidence to convict Mr. Hamdi. The Supreme Court pointed out that he did not have the power to hold him in a Stalinesque state of detention indefinitely. Ashcroft did have the practical leverage (three years of solitary confinement) to persuade Hamdi to trade his citizenship and the rights arising from it for a release from the hell Ashcroft had made for him. Every American should shudder at this diabolical bargain.
If Mr. Hamdi is indeed a terrorist, then Mr. Ashcroft's deal (which has the sole virtue of minimizing the administration's embarrassment) is treasonous. If Mr. Hamdi is not a terrorist, then Mr. Aschroft's deal is also treasonous. If he is not impeached for his incompetence he should be jailed for his subversion of the United State's Constitution.
