Overreach Overturned

The Loneliest Fight

Julian E. Barnes writes in the Los Angeles Times: "For four years, they waged what may have been the loneliest fight in the war on terrorism. Facing Bush administration hard-liners intent on finding novel ways to deal with enemy combatants, the armed services' own lawyers fought attempts to rewrite the rules of war. . . .

"Until now, administration hawks, led by Vice President Dick Cheney and his chief of staff, David S. Addington, had won almost every argument. This fight, they said, required more flexible guidelines, with fewer rights for those captured and fewer limits on their captors."

Barnes quotes retired Rear Adm. Donald Guter, the Navy's top uniformed lawyer when the military commission trials were first proposed in 2001, as saying: "This was seen as an opportunity, a vehicle to restore presidential power and authority. It was a very convenient vehicle. It was perfect. Fear tends to drive power to authority and to the executive branch."

On CNN , Lieutenant Commander Charles Swift, one of Hadman's attorneys, said of the ruling: "It's a return to our fundamental values. And that return marks a high water point in American history. It means that we can't be scared out of who we are. And that's victory, folks."

Carol J. Williams writes in the Los Angeles Times: "Colleagues attributed the high court ruling to what they considered to be Swift's determination to protect the integrity of U.S. jurisprudence against a Pentagon bent on retribution for terrorism attacks on U.S. forces."

What Bush Said

Bush made brief remarks about the ruling in a joint appearance with Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, after having had only a "drive-by briefing" on its meaning.

"The American people need to know that this ruling, as I understand it, won't cause killers to be put out on the street. . . . At any rate, we will seriously look at the findings, obviously. And one thing I'm not going to do, though, is I'm not going to jeopardize the safety of the American people. People have got to understand that. . . .

"[W]e've got people looking at it right now to determine how we can work with Congress if that's available to solve the problem."

White House Makes Lemonade

Today's ever-chipper "Morning Update" e-mail from the White House links to these two stories (and only these two stories) about the Hamdan decision:

* Joseph Curl and Charles Hurt 's story in the Washington Times, in which they write: "Republican leaders in Congress said yesterday that they will draft legislation to grant the Bush administration the authority to try prisoners at Guantanamo Bay before a military tribunal, a move that sets up a contentious debate between Republicans and Democrats on a hot-potato national-security issue just four months before midterm elections."

* David B. Rivkin Jr. and Lee A. Casey 's op-ed in the Wall Street Journal op-ed (subscription required), in which they describe the ruling's "sterling silver lining": "[N]one of the justices questioned the government's right to detain Salim Ahmed Hamdan (once Osama bin Laden's driver), or other Guantanamo prisoners, while hostilities continue. Nor did any of them suggest that Mr. Hamdan, or any other Guantanamo detainee, must be treated as civilians and accorded a speedy trial in the civilian courts. Precisely because opponents of the Bush administration's detention policies have advanced these, or substantially similar claims, Hamdan has dealt them a decisive defeat. . . . Hamdan vindicates the basic legal architecture relied upon by the administration in prosecuting this war."

Opinion Watch

Washington Post editorial: "After Sept. 11, 2001, the Bush administration chose to set aside the standing legal procedures and treaties for fighting this country's enemies and make up rules of its own -- at the expense of violating human rights, tarnishing U.S. prestige around the world, and undermining the checks and balances of American democracy. Yesterday, at last, the Supreme Court responded."