9/11 Suspects Won't See Trial on Bush Watch

Lack of precedent has Gitmo cases moving at snail's pace
By Sam Gale Rosen,  Newser Staff
Posted May 6, 2008 4:29 PM CDT
9/11 Suspects Won't See Trial on Bush Watch
Guantanamo guards keep watch over a cell block with detainees in Camp 6 maximum-security facility in this Oct. 9, 2007 file photo, at Guantanamo Bay U.S. Naval Base, Cuba.   (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley)

Guantanamo Bay inmates likely will not be tried for charges connected to the Sept. 11 attacks while President Bush is still in office, US officials say. The system set up in 2006 for trying charges brought against the prisoners is crawling. "Every little detail ends up being contested, because it's an entirely new system," a Human Rights Watch observer tells the Washington Post.

"Some of the detainees haven't even seen their lawyers yet," she said. The slow going comes despite Defense Department officials' saying they would like to begin trials before the end of the Bush administration. One Pentagon officer has even mentioned the "strategic political value" of holding the trials before the November election. (More Guantanamo prisoners stories.)

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