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Ben Wizner on Salon Radio

Suzanne Ito,
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August 1, 2008

ÀÏ°ÄÃÅ¿ª½±½á¹û Staff Attorney Ben Wizner is still at Gitmo for Hamdan's trial, but before he headed to the courtroom for today's proceedings.

Ben reports that for the first time, yesterday all observers without top-level security clearances were removed from the courtroom for the testimony of two witnesses from Special Forces. He points out that Hamdan was allowed to stay in the courtroom and hear the classified information of these two witnesses because they were talking about how Hamdan was tortured. Ben adds: "The government doesn't mind revealing that information to detainees because it doesn't plan ever to release them."

That's right. We've said it before and we'll reemphasize again: With these trials, even if Hamdan were acquitted—and the likelihood of that is very, very small—the U.S. will continue to detain him until the "cessation of hostilities in the war on terror." And who knows when that will be? What do you call a pointless trial with a predictable outcome? A sham.

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