Editorial: Looking to November

Friday, Sept. 8, 2006 | 7:28 a.m.

In the wake of President Bush's announcement that terror suspects will be moved from secret CIA prisons to the U.S. detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Congress remains divided over how those detainees' trials should play out.

Bush and most Republicans want to create special tribunals that have no congressional oversight, in which defendants aren't privy to the evidence being used to prosecute them and in which hearsay and coerced testimony are permitted.

The announcement could have been made weeks ago - Bush crafted his draft legislation on detainees' trials in July. But he announced the move of 14 terror suspects - including the alleged mastermind of the 9/11 attacks - on Wednesday, as Congress convened for its last days of work before November's elections. It was a patently political declaration designed to help Republicans look tough on terrorists, while making anyone who disagrees with the president's legislation look soft.

Democrats and a handful of Republicans want to swiftly bring terrorists to justice, but they want to do so without dismantling the military justice system in the process. Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada told USA Today that the president's decision to prosecute the CIA's detainees was long overdue, but that "the last thing we need is a repeat of the arrogant, go-it-alone behavior that has jeopardized and delayed efforts to bring these terrorists to justice for five years."

Even prosecutors with the Judge Advocate General's office - the military's own lawyers - agree that a properly vetted and balanced military trial system is best for dealing with terror suspects. Concerns that terrorists will learn too much about U.S. covert operations in open court incite fear, but aren't based in fact. Judges already allow covert operatives to retain their cover and keep matters of national security out of testimony on a case-by-case basis.

In the United States, we don't hide evidence from the accused, nor do we permit hearsay testimony. The American philosophy of justice guarantees defendants a fair examination of even the most heinous crimes. We shouldn't let terrorists dilute the ideals on which this nation exists. It helps them win.