Dave Glazier on the Wall Street Journal on Gitmo Defense Attorneys

Over at National Security Advisors, our colleague Dave Glazier has a superb post on whether the Gitmo defense attorneys are responsible for the ills of the military commissions, as the Wall Street Journal‘s far-right editorial page seems to believe. Here’s the intro:

The Wall Street Journal published a scathing editorial today blasting the military and civilian defense attorneys it portrays as unreasonably obstructing the capital military commission prosecutions of high value terrorists, including alleged 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed (KSM). It is not surprising that a paper noted for its politically conservative editorial stance should defend the government’s general approach to the so-called “War on Terror.” But it is disappointing to see the editors of a paper that is generally well regarded for the basic quality of its journalism get so many points of law, history, and fact wrong, as well as to question the integrity of so many career military lawyers and judges. It is also ironic to see how far the editors have shifted their views on the role of law and justice since the time of the trial they hold up as a prototype.

The post includes a fascinating discussion of the events underlying Ex parte Quirin — and the Journal‘s rather different take on that case in 1942. Check it out!