Hamdan’s Light Sentence
Salim Hamdan, the former driver and bodyguard for Osama bin Laden convicted by a U.S. military tribunal Wednesday, could be released from prison before President Bush leaves office.
The U.S. military jury sentenced the Yemeni prisoner Thursday to just 5 1/2 years in prison, including five years and a month already served at Guantanamo Bay. U.S. authorities insist they could still hold him indefinitely without charge, but defense lawyers and human rights groups say the military will face pressure to release him at the end of his sentence.
The judge, Navy Capt. Keith Allred, called Hamdan a “small player,” and the jury apparently agreed, rejecting the recommendation of prosecutors who said even a life sentence would be fitting in order to send an example to would-be terrorists. “I hope the day comes that you return to your wife and daughters and your country, and you’re able to be a provider, a father and a husband in the best sense of all those terms,” Allred told Hamdan at the close of the hearing.
The prisoner, dressed in a charcoal sports coat and white robe, responded: “God willing.”
Hamdan thanked the jurors for the sentence and repeated his apology for having served bin Laden. “I would like to apologize one more time to all the members and I would like to thank you for what you have done for me,” Hamdan told the five-man, one-woman jury, all military officers picked by the Pentagon for the first U.S. war crimes trial in a half-century. Hamdan raised both hands in the air and waved as he left the courtroom, saying “bye, bye everybody” in English.
Surreal.
At first blush, this would seem an odd result from a kangaroo court of military officers simply carrying out their orders and doing what the government, who wanted Hamdan convicted of a much more serious charge and sentenced to the maximum penalty of life in prison, wants. But it just goes to show how clever they are.
(Snicker)
Funny thing; I’ve not seen much from the left on this one, yet. Their stunned silence seems an indication that it was far lighter a sentence than even THEY wanted, but after all the defense put up for the man by them, they dare not say so.
Mostly, I think, it’s just a matter of both sides generally ignoring stories that don’t fit their narrative.
(I should note that Anderson mentioned it in the comments of the previous post last night; I just didn’t get around to posting on it.)
Or one could point to this as evidence that the Bush administration is so incompetent that it can’t even get show trials right.
On kangaroos and courts:
Maybe the court just figured, given all the shenanigans that went on down at Gitmo, that this was the most they could do in good conscience.
Or perhaps it indicates they’re not the monsters some would like to make them out as.
Mmmphff.
Or perhaps they’ve just not figured out how to spin it to their advantage yet… how to make it fit their narrative… as an example the exchange between Sam and myself.
Oops. Sorry Sam. Ugh, I meant.
James forgot to include the information that the so-called judge spoke Arabic in a military courtroom to the scum, Hamdan.
This is further evidence of how the liberal Congress has weakened the military. If you didn’t have treasonous senators like Hussein and Kennedy trying to destroy our troops, you wouldn’t have spineless, activist judges like Allred showing sympathy for the evildoers.
Luckily, Allread’s decision is meaningless since Bush can still keep Hamdan in custody even after his “sentence” is served.
Of course, if Hussein gets elected he will just let loose all of the terrorists on his first day in office. This is why we need to insure that Bush dissolves Congress in early January should Hussein win the election. That way, the electoral college will be unable to meet and Bush will have to extend his reign.
The only way for freedom and liberty to be preserved will be for Bush to maintain his rule after his term expires. Otherwise, criminals like Hamdan will resume their terrorist ways