TWO FROM J. ORLIN GRABBE

First, a report on how Bush's Justice Department is handling the judicial side of the war on terror. From the Detroit Free Press:

Judge dismisses terrorism charges

A federal judge in Detroit criticized prosecutors on Thursday for misleading the court, jurors and defense lawyers in the nation's first post-9/11 terrorism trial.

U.S. District Judge Gerald Rosen said prosecutors made up their minds early that the men were terrorists and "simply ignored or avoided any evidence or information which contradicted or undermined that view." He said prosecutors operated outside the Constitution by concealing information that could have undermined their case.

Rosen dismissed terrorism charges against two defendants. They will be retried with a third defendant on a fraudulent document charge. No trial date has been set.

Rosen said the failures of the prosecutors were "prevalent and pervasive," that the defendants were denied a fair trial and that the jury might have reached a different verdict if all of the evidence had been presented.

Defense lawyers said they were pleased with the decision but plan to ask Rosen to dismiss the document fraud charges, too, saying prosecutors' conduct was flagrant.

Click here for the rest.

I think that this story illustrates well the problem with Bush's "military tribunals" and indefinite internments: it's very likely that without basic constitutional protections for the accused, innocents will be convicted. It's a shame that I even feel compelled to make such an observation.

And from the INN World Report, a 9/11 perception that, in New York at least, appears to be growing:

Zogby Poll: 50% believe US knew in
advance that attacks were planned

On the eve of the Republican National Convention, half (50%) of New York City residents and two in four (41%) of New York citizens overall say that some US leaders "knew in advance that attacks were planned on or around September 11, 2001, and that they consciously failed to act," according to the poll conducted by Zogby International. The poll of New York residents was conducted from Tuesday August 24 through Thursday August 26, 2004.

And

The poll is the first of its kind conducted in America that surveys attitudes regarding US government complicity in the 9/11 tragedy. Despite the acute legal and political implications of this accusation, nearly 30% of registered Republicans and over 38% of those who described themselves as "very conservative" supported the claim.

Click here for the rest.

I must admit that I came to pretty much the same conlusion myself over a year ago. Given these numbers coming out of the Big Apple, I no longer feel quite the nut that I did then.

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