What a farce

Today's NYTimes reports on the first conviction from a Gitmo detainee So first they hold a mock trial after 5 years of detention. But just in case their puppets don't sentence their man for long enough, there's a backup plan.

The Bush administration has long asserted that it could continue to hold detainees even if they were acquitted or given short sentences because they are designated enemy combatants who, according to the administration, can be held until the end of the war on terror.

And when, exactly, was the war on terror ending? We have always been at war with Eurasia haven't we?

The treatment and "trial" of Guantanamo detainees has been a disgrace from the start to finish (except that it's never set to finish). One can only hope the next US president might restore a modicum of credibility to the process.