Salim Ahmed Hamdan, former driver for Osama bin Laden, was convicted on one charge and acquitted on another Wednesday, handing the Bush administration a partial victory in the first U.S. war crimes trial in a half-century. No doubt, high-fives and fist-bumps are abound in the Bush White House. But I, as horrified by the tragedies of September 11, 2008 as any other American citizen, don’t feel anything. At this point, I’m not sure that the capture and conviction of Osama himself would generate any personal emotion, at least as far as I am concerned. I don’t know if I am the only one that feels this way but I suspect that is not the case.
The conviction of Salim Ahmed Hamdan, if anything, is important for what it is not, i.e., a victory in Bush’s so-called "crusade" against terrorism and the notional demon of Islamo-fascism. The fact that the Bush Administration is going to such great expense to try such lowly defendants as Hamdan, and the fact that jurors subsequently failed to find him guilty of conspiring with bin Laden in terrorist attacks, suggests that the Bush Administration is merely putting on a show rather than making a substantial impact against al Qaeda. Clearly, there will be many trials to come in which real terrorists, including Khalid Sheik Mohammed, bin al-Shibh, and Abu Zubayda have their day. Whether or not convictions will arise is yet to be seen, and to what end? Will the convicted perpetrators be sent to Federal prisons? Will they be executed? Will they be deported and to where?
Why don’t I feel anything about Hamdan’s conviction and why am I not particularly interested in the upcoming trials? To me, the answer is obvious. Immediately in the aftermath the events of 9/11, the Bush Administration began to take decisive actions to avenge these horrible attacks. All of America was united in its support of the Commander-in-Chief in his moment of destiny. But little did we know that what appeared to be a national response rivaling that which occurred in the days following the attack on Pearl harbor, had imbedded within, a cynical domestic- and geo-political agenda that the Administration would exploit to its own advantage in order to consolidate power, disregard the Constitution, and violate the sensibilities of the International Community. In doing so, these scoundrels took their eyes off the ball, and while they may have succeeded in their political pursuits, they have only served to make the world a more dangerous place by handing the so-called Islamic extremists a "cause celebre."
Yes, Bush and Cheney were re-elected in 2004 only because they scared the bejeebers out of rank and file Americans. But Bush and his minions got what they wanted, two right-wing Supreme Court justices. Yes, over 4,000 of our best and brightest have sacrificed their young lives in the process. Yes, thousands of maimed and severely disabled veterans and their families will bear a heavy burden for the rest of their lives. Yes, countless innocent civilians were slaughtered by Rumsfeld’s "shock and awe" campaign.
Do I give a rat’s ass about Bush’s war crimes trials? No, not unless Bush and Cheney are tried along side of their fellow murderers.