"We Can't Have Acquittals"

The former chief prosecutor for Guantánamo's military commissions has disclosed that the trials have been rigged to prevent the possibility of acquittal.

Indeed, the current head of the Guantanamo tribunal that will prosecute the defendants -- who is actually in charge of both prosecuting and defending the suspects -- told the former chief prosecutor:

"Wait a minute, we can't have acquittals. If we've been holding these guys for so long, how can we explain letting them get off? We can't have acquittals, we've got to have convictions."

In addition to the former chief prosecutor mentioned above, three other Guantanamo prosecutors -- Maj. Robert Preston, Capt. John Carr and Capt. Carrie Wolf -- "asked to be relieved of duties after saying they were concerned that the process was rigged. One said he had been assured he didn’t need to worry about building a proper case; convictions were assured."

The current head of the tribunal also said that -- even if the defendants are somehow acquitted -- they may not be released from Guantanamo.

No wonder the American Bar Association, "which the Pentagon had said would help arrange such representation, has refused to participate because it objects to the trial procedures." And no wonder the defense attorneys who have agreed to represent the defendants say that the process is completely unfair. See also this interview.

The 9/11 prosecutions were never supposed to be about truth or justice anyway.

The only two things the trials will be good for are: (1) making a spectacle for public consumption, like all good kangaroo court show trials do; and (2) suppressing information the suspects wish to express which is inconvenient for the government prosecutors.