On top of the moral problem with detainee treatment — and the logic issue of whether there even should be detainments, let alone whether the “right” people are being detained — there’s deciding what to do with them. Congress is giving Bush another shot at having those tribunals, and as is par for the course with government, it’s ass-backwards:

The bill that Congress approved Friday to bring terrorism suspects to trial contains a central irony: The suspects considered most dangerous will have the most rights, while the others will remain in legal limbo with no ability to challenge their detention.

The government plans to try about 100 of the detainees being held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba — those suspected of the most serious crimes against the United States. These prisoners, and any others charged, would be able to appeal convictions to the U.S. courts.

The other 355 detainees, who are considered less of a threat, may never be tried and may therefore be denied the right to challenge their imprisonment. (emphasis mine)

So non-factors can rot, while Khalid Sheikh Mohammed gets a fast-track to his day in court. You honestly cannot make this shit up…

The tribunal legislation also raises the prospect for the first time that foreigners in the United States could be declared “enemy combatants” and sent to Guantanamo, according to defense lawyers and advocacy groups.

Under the legislation, “enemy combatants” are defined to include not only people who have engaged in hostilities against the U.S. but people who have “purposefully and materially supported” hostilities.

The definition, which “certainly goes far beyond the battlefield, will include people who never took up arms or planned attacks, and will include people who simply gave money,” said Chris Anders, a legislative counsel with the American Civil Liberties Union. “It greatly expands the number of people who can have their habeas rights stripped and potentially be brought before military commissions.”

“purposefully and materially supported” hostilities. To the average person, that means they gave money or active assistance to a terrorist group. However, since the heads of the GOP regularly claim that any citizen engaging in any degree of disagreement with current policy is tantamount to supporting jihadists, you can safely assume that the standard will be even lower than that for non-citizens.

It says a lot about where we’re at as a country that we’re actually saying “well, look on the bright side! At least those secret CIA prisons where we torture people are being closed!”. An’ it ain’t good…