FederalNewsRadio - WFED: Pentagon Disavows Comment on Detainees
Amid a storm of condemnation, the Pentagon has backed away from comments by a senior official that were clearly designed to intimidate law firms representing detainees in Guantanamo Bay:
Charles "Cully" Stimson, the deputy assistant secretary of defense for detainee affairs, said in a radio interview last week that companies might want to consider taking their business to other firms that do not represent suspected terrorists.
As an editorial in the New York Times points out, Stimson's remarks strike at the heart of the American tradition of fair representation for anyone accused of a crime. As the Times also observes, we have come to expect nothing less from the Bush Administration.