Demagogue

The Bush administration has developed a manual that outlines how it will prosecute Gitmo detainees. The manual reportedly declares that the accused are to be presumed innocent, and the accused have a right to independent counsel and to be provided with evidence before it is admitted into court.

On the other hand, these details are disturbing:

Defense Secretary Robert Gates is submitting to Congress a manual for trials of detainees being held at Guantanamo Bay that would allow the admission of hearsay evidence and coerced testimony, a Pentagon official told reporters Thursday.

The manual was drafted to comply with a law passed last year that restored the Bush administration's military commissions created to try terrorist suspects.

The Supreme Court had struck down the commissions as unconstitutional.

… About 400 detainees are being held at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

The report that detainees would have the right to independent counsel is encouraging, although it is less encouraging when a top Pentagon official makes comments that seem designed to intimidate any lawyers from representing one of the Gitmo detainees.