Decider-in-chief claims to want Gitmo closed

Many groups and citizens, including myself, have criticized the law-free zone known as the detention center at Guantanamo Bay. That's where the administration is holding kidnapees that it suspects of being terrorists but refuses to formally accuse them or put them on trial for their alleged misdeeds.

Pres. Bush and his administration have strenuously defended the camp. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, who wrote an infamous memo defending torture, has called the camp absolutely essential.

The Bush administration has argued in court that US law and judicial review should not apply to Guantanamo kidnapees. Thankfully, the Supreme Court ruled the administration does not have the power to suspend the Constitution in this case.

So imagine my shock when I read the most recent comments by the president.

"I very much would like to end Guantanamo; I very much would like to get people to a court," he told German television.

Some Guantanamo kidnapees have been there for several years without trial or even formal accusation (which is precisely what makes them kidnapees). It seems that if getting these folks to court is such a pressing issue for Bush, he would've made it happen already.

"And we're waiting for our Supreme Court to give us a decision as to whether the people need to have a fair trial in a civilian court or in a military court," he added.

I thought Bush was 'the decider' so why is he waiting for a bunch of unelected judges to do the deciding for him. Respecting the courts and the law has never been a priority for him before.

The Zacarias Moussaoui case showed that the regular judicial system is capable of handling terrorism trials without resorting to contrived military commissions. The trials of people involved in the first World Trade Center and Oklahoma City bombings demonstrated this as well.

The president claims he would 'like to end Guantanamo' as a detention center. He's the one who decided it open and he's the one who could decide it closed. It's time he ordered the detainees there either be charged in regular courts or be released. It's time the chief executive executed the law. He doesn't need to wait for the Supreme Court to tell him to do the right thing. It's time for the decider-in-chief to a leader for once.