There was an interesting article in my local newspaper recently by Nat Hentoff under the heading of "War Crime Trials," and a subheading "Proceedings leave detainees with no voice, no hope." The article concerned the Pentagon plan to hold war crime trials this year for dozens of prisoners at Cuba's Guantanamo military base.

The article went on to tell how Democratic Senator, Patrick Leahy, of Vermont, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, will co-introduce a bill with Republican Senator Arlen Specter, former chairman of the committee, to change last year's Military Commission Act: an act that removed the habeas-corpus rights of Guantanamo prisoners to petition federal courts on the lawfulness of their detention and the conditions of their confinement.

Ex-Defense Secretary Rumsfeld claimed most of the detainees are "the best trained, most vicious killers on the face of the Earth." But, two "extensively documented reports from New Jersey's Seton Hall Law School, based entirely on Defense Department data," gave many examples of how flawed and unfounded are many of the Administration's charges.

The article gave specific examples of the unfair and tyrannical treatment given the prisoners in the years they have been contained. It ended by saying, "Congress needs to fix a lot more, including the National Security Agency's unjustified, lawless spying on Americans, and the CIA's rendering of suspects to be tortured in other countries. Both of which have been authorized by the president, although outside all American and International laws."

No one knows how many of the Guantanamo detainees are truly dangerous terrorists, but based upon the lies and deceit of the American president and his Administration, it's a safe bet there are very few. Also, based upon Administration actions, charges against the president and his advisors as proven terrorists should be brought before the International War Crimes Court They truly deserve to be tried for their crimes against humanity. The unjustified deaths of tens of thousands of innocent people demand it.