Dafna Linzer was a guest on PBS NewsHour last night to talk about the Obama administration’s change of course with the Guantanamo trials.
She discussed how Congress has tied the administration’s hands by preventing them from bringing detainees into the U.S. for trial, leaving them with a tough decision. “The options before the president now and before the attorney general were, either put these specific detainees on trial in a military commission or hold them without trial forever,” Linzer said.
Linzer also pointed out that several questions remain unanswered after Attorney General Eric Holder’s announcement that the five suspected 9/11 conspirators will be tried at Guantanamo. For example, in military commissions, is the death penalty still a possibility? And could you plead guilty if you were facing the death penalty in a military commission?
Watch the full interview here. And for all of Linzer’s reporting on Guantanamo Bay, visit The Detention Dilemma series page.