Bush's electoral time bomb ..?

[Tankus]

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Bush administration said on Wednesday it was scrambling to decide how to handle nearly 600 foreign prisoners at a U.S. base in Cuba after the Supreme Court ruled they must have access to civilian courts.

But neither the White House nor Pentagon would confirm or deny a Los Angeles Times report that the Taliban and al Qaeda suspects might be moved from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to facilities within the United States.

Monday's rulings by the high court rebuffed President Bush's assertion of sweeping powers to indefinitely hold "enemy combatants" - and try some in military courts - after the Sept. 11 attacks.

"The National Security Council and the Department of Defense and the Department of Justice and others are discussing these issues. They're working expeditiously," White House spokesman Scott McClellan said.

"I won't rule in, rule out or speculate at this point," he said of any movement of the "detainees."

"We don't know. We're trying to figure it all out," Justice Department spokesman Mark Corallo told Reuters when asked what would be done with the prisoners.

The Times reported that Pentagon and Justice Department officials said they were considering moving all of the roughly 595 prisoners from the Guantanamo Bay naval base to a single judicial district within the United States.

The Defense Department also refused to confirm or deny the report, although the Pentagon and White House noted that new rules had been established for annual reviews of the status of each Guantanamo "detainee."

"It would be premature to discuss how this ruling might specifically affect our operations, including the location of detainees in the future," said one defense official, who asked not to be identified.

Consolidating the proceedings in one U.S. court would avoid transporting prisoners and government lawyers to federal courts across the country, the newspaper report said.

Administration officials told the Times they were unprepared for the ruling.

"It's astounding to me that these cases have been pending for so long and nobody came up with a contingency plan," a senior Defense Department official was quoted as saying.

Nearly 600 suspected al Qaeda members or Taliban fighters have been held at Guantanamo for two years since their capture in the war in Afghanistan.

U.S. officials said the Bush administration could ask Congress to designate a federal court to try the cases, the report said. Another option would be to allow prisoners to seek legal justification for their imprisonment at a makeshift court at Guantanamo, a possibility the Supreme Court left open.

reuters

[Hurdy]

"It's astounding to me that these cases have been pending for so long and nobody came up with a contingency plan,"

A result of ill thought out knee-jerk policies.

[Tankus]

There will be an attempt to sneak this past the elections ...US media will fall in line ........... because its the democratic thing to do ...!

but isn't it fundamental to the whole shebang ...?

[Scarecrow Man]

I saw Fahrenheit 9/11 today. GREAT FILM!

Though it is a very bias view on the government of the U.S., it explores a lot of contraversial issues, and I would recomend it to anyone who hates or likes Bush. :D

One of the most controversial and provocative films of the year, Fahrenheit 9/11 is Academy Award-winning filmmaker Michael Moore's searing examination of the Bush administration's actions in the wake of the tragic events of 9/11. With his characteristic humor and dogged commitment to uncovering the facts, Moore considers the presidency of George W. Bush and where it has led us. He looks at how - and why - Bush and his inner circle avoided pursuing the Saudi connection to 9/11, despite the fact that 15 of the 19 hijackers were Saudis and Saudi money had funded Al Qaeda.