Word: civilian
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...there is no more Guantánamo. Alleged terrorist operatives will continue to fall into the hands of the FBI, CIA and military in the years ahead. Obama may consider working to create so-called national-security courts, which would essentially be a hybrid tribunal system blending military and civilian criminal law. Those who support the creation of national-security courts say that only a new, carefully constructed system can effectively deal with issues like classified evidence and other matters that sometimes snarl proceedings in regular criminal and military courts...
Many civil rights activists say existing military and civilian criminal courts can handle the Guantánamo cases and decide on the disposition of each of those 255 individuals, despite the Bush Administration's arguments otherwise. But the legal limbo many Guantánamo detainees have endured for years still poses significant problems. That is because the primary purpose of detaining these people was not to stage trials but rather to gain usable intelligence through interrogation. Forming proper criminal cases at this point would be difficult...
...prosecuting Mohammed and other cases like his in federal court may prove tricky. At least some of the evidence against Mohammed looks to have been gathered during harsh interrogations, which may make it inadmissible in court. His arrest and detention had none of the necessary steps provided under U.S. civilian law that help safeguard the rights of suspects - and sometimes allow for loopholes for some to minimize or evade prosecution. Many of the same legal obstacles would arise in any attempt to court-martial Mohammed, because regular military courts have comparable rules about evidence and legal procedure...
...easy task. But Obama, strengthened by his mandate at home and even abroad, and spurred on by his pledge to fix Afghanistan, is the man for the job. The time is right. Despite the economic meltdown, the U.S. has leverage in the form of an agreement to sell India civilian nuclear technology and fuel. Pakistan has a civilian government for the first time in nine years, and a desperate need for cash and trade. There is nothing to lose, and everything to gain...
...Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) told the press on Monday that the U.N. body's inspectors found traces of uranium when they inspected the site in June. Apparently, the amounts weren't large enough to make a definitive conclusion, but the IAEA is putting Syria - which has no publicly declared civilian nuclear program - on the formal agenda for its year-end meeting in late November. Diplomats at the IAEA say the Syrian government, which denies that it was trying to build nuclear weapons, has balked at the agency's requests for wider inspections...