Osama bin Laden

al Qaeda, Gitmo, Guantanamo, Military Commissions, Osama bin Laden

Hamdan ‘guilty’ of material support to terrorism, ‘not guilty’ of conspiracy, faces life sentence

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The jury in the Military Commission of al Qaeda member Salim Ahmed Hamdan announced its verdict this morning. The New York Times reports:

GUANTÁNAMO BAY, Cuba — A panel of six military officers convicted a former driver for Osama bin Laden of a war crime Tuesday, completing the first military commission trial here and the first conducted by the United States since the end of World War II.

The military commission conviction of the former driver, Salim Ahmed Hamdan, a Yemeni who was part of a select group of drivers and bodyguards for Mr. bin Laden until 2001, was a long-sought, if some what qualified, victory for the Bush administration, which has been working to begin military commission trials at the isolated naval base here for nearly seven years.

The commission acquitted Mr. Hamdan of a conspiracy charge, arguably the more serious of two charges he faced, but convicted him of a separate charge of providing material support for terrorism.

Mr. Hamdan was convicted by a panel of six senior military officers who, according to an order of the military judge, could not be public identified. As permitted under the law Congress passed for trials here in 2006, the trial included secret evidence and testimony in a closed courtroom.

Mr. Hamdan, who has said he is about 40, faces possible life term. The sentence is to be set in a separate proceeding before the same panel that is to begin this afternoon.

Afghanistan, Barack Obama, Iraq, Osama bin Laden

‘Obama wrong from the start on Iraq’ says retired SF Master Sergeant

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The following is the bottom line of why one well known retired Special Forces NCO does not share Senator Barack Obama’s confidence in his own judgement:

Obama has not had any good ideas about the war in Iraq, Afghanistan or anywhere else. He threatened to invade Pakistan, run away from Iraq and redouble efforts to capture and not martyr the already-dead bin Laden. Now there is a resume for an aspiring Commander in Chief. — James Hanson (a.k.a. Uncle Jimbo at BlackFive.net), retired Special Operations Master Sergeant, July 21, 2008

Last year, Obama repeatedly said the surge in Iraq would not work. In addition, Power Line’s John Hinderaker points out Senator Obama’s current rhetoric about Afghanistan does not match his past voting record:

Worst of all, far from being committed to victory in Afghanistan, Obama voted to cut off all funding for all of our military efforts in Afghanistan on May 24, 2007 (H.R. 2206, CQ Vote #181), thereby seeking to bring about defeat there as well as in Iraq. His current effort to portray himself as a wolf in sheep’s clothing on Afghanistan is a complete fraud.

Here’s an example of how the surge Obama thought would fail is working out in Saddam Hussein’s once very violent hometown.

click on image to enlarge

Photo caption: ROLE MODEL: Iraqi children learn how to make a model airplane from a U.S Army soldier during a Youth Outreach Day on Contingency Operating Base Speicher, Tikrit, Iraq, July 12, 2008. The event was coordinated by the Provincial Reconstruction Team to increase understanding of coalition forces for children in the local community. — U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Micky M. Bazaldua