Two Senators Secretly Flew to Cuba for Alleged 9/11 Mastermind's Hearing

[cal04]

Two key congressional leaders secretly flew to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, on Saturday to observe the closed military hearing for al-Qaeda leader Khalid Sheik Mohammed, according to Capitol Hill staff members and Pentagon officials.

Sen. Carl M. Levin (D-Mich.), chairman of the Armed Services Committee, and Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.), a committee member, watched the proceedings over closed-circuit television from an adjacent room, said Tara Andringa, a spokeswoman for Levin. They were joined by a representative from the CIA, according to one U.S. government official. Lawyers from the Justice Department did not attend the hearing, a spokesman for the department said.

The official transcript of Mohammed's hearing, called to establish whether he qualifies as an "enemy combatant," acknowledged the presence of five unnamed military officers, a translator and an official tribunal reporter. It is unclear why the presence of two senators who helped write the law codifying the tribunals was not announced. Yesterday evening, Graham said he was not prepared to discuss the trip, citing an agreement with Levin. "We'll issue a joint statement tomorrow, but we were there together," Graham said.

Saturday's trip underscores congressional efforts to exert oversight of one of President Bush's most controversial programs in his fight against al-Qaeda. After recent criticism from the Justice Department's inspector general over its use of surveillance powers under the USA Patriot Act, the Bush administration is under pressure to demonstrate greater transparency than it has been willing to offer in the past.

Though there have been hundreds of status hearings for Guantanamo detainees, last week's hearings for Mohammed and two other al-Qaeda suspects marked the first time that Combatant Status Review Tribunals were closed to the media and the public. Pentagon officials argued that hearings for Mohammed and 13 others who were held inside the CIA's secret detention program, some for years, have to be secret for unspecified national security reasons.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/15/AR2007031500865.html

[MADem]

1. Hopefully someone 'shoved a tape in the machine'

Those proceedings need to be preserved for posterity.

[Old and In the Way]

2. Funny thing about this war on terror.

It's supposed to be the epic battle of our lifetime, yet we can't hear/see any of these alledged masterminds in captivity. Why is that? Wouldn't it bolster this administration's case to allow the American public to see, hear, and validate their contentions? Or is this just smoke and mirrors for the masses?

[The_Casual_Observer]

4. It has to be kept secret, mysterious & dramatic

like an old Catholic Mass or a good magic show.

[aquart]

5. It's smoke and mirrors.

Secrecy aids terror, it doesn't fight it.

[originalpckelly]

3. That's good. The chances of it being Kangaroo go down.

[northzax]

6. while I have no real doubt that KSM is a murderous asshole

I find it intruiging that he basically copped to every major terror event in the past 20 years. Next we'll hear that he did Black September too. Anyone else suspect that KSM is, in fact, clever enough to confess to everything, taking the heat off the real people? I mean he knows he's never getting out of Gitmo, why not confess to everything he can?

I mean the list of things he's apparently done now make him almost a James Bond villian.

[shance]

7. How do you honestly know that? From what the Bush Administration has told you?

n/t

[northzax]

9. well, let's see

he was the propaganda chief for Al-Quaeda. So I am going with murderous asshole.

[majorjohn]

8. Murderous asshole because of everything he confessed to?

:wow:

[northzax]

10. no, murderous asshole

because he was a: aligned with Osama bin Laden (fellow murderous asshole) and served as his media and communications (propaganda) chief. And that was known before he was arrested, before he 'confessed' to anything. Or do you think, perhaps, that being the media chief for a global terrorist organization isn;t a good job for a murderous asshole?

:wow: