Editor’s Note: You can read more Jami Floyd blogs on “In Session”
Jami Floyd
AC360° Contributor
In Session Anchor
Rarely has the word “guilty” meant as little as it does in the case of Salim Hamdan, the first prisoner to stand trial for war crimes at Gitmo.
Because it’s not a trial really. It’s a Military Commission, which means different rules, a wider scope of evidence, a jury of six military officers and a military judge. The former driver for Osama Bin Laden was accused of swearing his loyalty to Al Qaida and helping Bin Laden to escape after 9/11. Now that he’s been convicted, Hamdan faces life in prison.
The chief military prosecutor in the case calls the trial “an open and fair and thorough process,” one which strikes a balance between security and Hamdan’s right to present his case. But I respectfully disagree. This proceeding was neither speedy nor public. And in this country, that is not a fair trial at all.
Read more of Jami Floyd’s comments on the In Session blog.
| Larry |
August 6th, 2008 3:58 pm ET Yep, just as the Nuremberg trials were a mockery. |
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| Cindy |
August 6th, 2008 4:10 pm ET Jami, Cindy…Ga. |
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| Chicago |
August 6th, 2008 5:37 pm ET Well Jami… change the constitution… It was a military trial… not of a US citizen… someone who would sooner cut off your head that hear what you think (because of what you look like)… So I’m not sorry at all… good luck to him… he got a trial… had one of our soldiers fallen under his leader…. we would have gotten some drill bits to the knees, our hands cut off, our genitals cut off, and our heads cut off on the internet… I think he did ok! PS: Although I don’t agree with you on this one… I like your blog! |
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| Alex |
August 6th, 2008 6:14 pm ET Why is this even being discussed? This guy is Osama Bin Laden’s driver. Of course he’s been railroaded. Anybody with half a brain knows this guys can’t have done anything tp protect his employer and “brother in arms.” These Muslims are simple misunderstood. Give me a break! |
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| Genevieve M, TX |
August 6th, 2008 6:30 pm ET I might be the only one who has this opinion…. but I believe that anyone who is imprisoned there is guilty of a crime, trial or no trial. I don’t care if any of the prisoners there die, they are a waste of oxygen. As the others have pointed out, this man was employed by Al Qaida and if set free- is someone who can maim/kill someone if he chooses to do so. I have no sympathy for people like him and no one else should either. |
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| Annie Kate |
August 6th, 2008 9:28 pm ET As with all wars there are cases a military court decides - WW2 had military trials for the war criminals of the Third Reich and we didn’t complain - I don’t really see any significant difference in this case. He drove bin Laden thus helping bin Laden travel around to inspire his followers to great feats of martyrdom as they killed the American scourge. It doesn’t ruin my day that the driver was found guilty. Annie Kate |
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| Rosie |
August 7th, 2008 1:37 am ET What a cold world we live in, even our own law says, one is innocent until proven guilty. What is happening to our Country? We are the most blessed people in the world, yet our hearts are so cold, when it come to other human-beings. |
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