Disir
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It’s hard to imagine a better microcosm of everything that’s gone wrong with the Guantánamo military commissions than the current headaches arising out of the prosecution of Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri—charged for, among other things, his alleged role in the October 2000 bombing of the USS Cole. Among the many ways in which the plight of the al-Nashiri case perfectly illustrates Guantánamo’s frustrations is how hard it is to even understand what the current problems are, or why the prosecution is on a (at least for the moment, indefinite) hold. (And all this is without regard to the substantial prior litigation in al-Nashiri, which, among lots of other things, helped to provoke the legal questions the Supreme Court is currently considering in Dalmazziv. United States.)
When Bobby Chesney and I talk about al-Nashiri on the National Security Law Podcast, Bobby is fond of referring to the current state of the case as a “seven-layer dip,” because there are a series of interrelated issues that are currently gumming up the works, and one has to walk through (or “eat”) all seven layers to see why. In the post that follows, I aim to do exactly that, with one important exception: As we’ll see, the dip, at least in its current form, has at least ten layers. And more may be coming.
Let’s start at the beginning.
What the Heck is Happening in Al-Nashiri?: The Ten-Layer Dip at the Heart of the Latest Guantánamo Mess
It's an interesting analysis.
When Bobby Chesney and I talk about al-Nashiri on the National Security Law Podcast, Bobby is fond of referring to the current state of the case as a “seven-layer dip,” because there are a series of interrelated issues that are currently gumming up the works, and one has to walk through (or “eat”) all seven layers to see why. In the post that follows, I aim to do exactly that, with one important exception: As we’ll see, the dip, at least in its current form, has at least ten layers. And more may be coming.
Let’s start at the beginning.
What the Heck is Happening in Al-Nashiri?: The Ten-Layer Dip at the Heart of the Latest Guantánamo Mess
It's an interesting analysis.