Gitmo detainees play to Obama

In a military commission proceeding reported by Carol Rosenberg of the Miami Herald, detainees are already publicly appealing to the incoming president-elect to close the facility.

A Saudi bad actor, Ahmad al Darbi, accused of plotting to blow up vessels in the Straits of Hormuz, waved what sounded like a copy of the full-page, New York Times ad that the ACLU took out demanding Obama close the facility.

With military commission proceedings suspended till Jan 19, one wonders how fast and how detailed will be Mr. Obama’s pledge to close the facility.

At this point, considering cabinet appointments and other more centrist moves he has made, we may see a diminution of campaign fervor to close Gitmo immediately.

It’s somewhat useless to speculate too much now; we’ll see soon enough.

Parenthetically, I wonder where al Darbi got his ad? Since the military does not provide NY Times to detainees and attorneys are prohibited by a court-established voluntary agreement from passing such materials to detainees, it is quite plausible that his attorney violated the agreement.

With a wire-brushed military ultra-sensitive to any media criticism don’t expect the attorney to be called to task for the violation.