Originally published in the Washington Post on Saturday, as part of a series called After Guantanamo, you can read Debra Burlingame's commentary here. Burlingame asks the pressing question:

Indeed, the most real and immediate risk posed by bringing detainees to U.S. soil is that federal judges will do what al-Qaeda cannot: order that committed jihadists be released. Last year, in habeas corpus proceedings, a federal judge ordered the release of 17 Chinese Muslims who were training in Afghanistan with the East Turkestan Islamic Movement to carry out terrorist attacks in mainland China. That case was recently reversed, but will no doubt be appealed. Does it make sense to release these individuals to suburban Virginia?

How will the federal courts handle evidentiary matters involving classified information being demanded by the likes of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed representing himself? Will prosecutors be forced to disclose crucial battlefield intelligence or dismiss their cases?

And earlier in the Washington Post, "Gitmo's Guerrilla Lawyers" (March 8, 2007)

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