Most of the time, the chatter about security risks become a white noise after a while. But I found two interesting news articles in two days from New York Times and Boston Herald, that I thought I should post here.
The first one, from New York Times, is a profile of Lt Cmd William Kuebler, a staunch Republican, born again christian who is defending the rights of prisoners of Guantanamo Bay and defending 15 year old Omar Khadr, a Canadian, who's been accused of throwing a hand grenade that killed a military serviceman.
It's an interesting profile, but NYT somehow loses the way in what they're trying to tell. Here's the ending of the article.
As the military defense lawyers prepare for a new constitutional challenge to the Pentagon’s commissions, they are facing an unforeseen obstacle. Many detainees are refusing to cooperate with them because they see the lawyers as agents of their captors.
Mr. Khadr, however, is working with Commander Kuebler on his defense, preparing for a trial that could come as soon as this summer.
But the cooperation is not because Commander Kuebler offers any hope for a courtroom victory. If there is a trial, he said, he expects Mr. Khadr to be convicted.
“I don’t believe it is a fair process,” Commander Kuebler said.
As if anyone thought he did.
The second one, from Boston Herald, is about Corporal Ciara Durkin, an Army National Reserve member. Here's what the newspaper had to say.
Durkin, 30, was found dead near a church with a single gunshot wound to her head on the secure Bagram Airbase in Afghanistan on Sept. 28 last year.
She told her family during a trip home that she had seen something at the base that she “didn’t like” and had made her feelings known. She added that she may have upset some people and that if anything happened to her while she was deployed, they must investigate.
“The Durkin family has received the Army’s final report into Ciara’s death with their conclusion that she took her own life. We are very upset and saddened by their conclusion,” said the family in a statement on Ciara Durkin’s memorial Web site.
“We have borne an extraordinary amount of pain over the past nine months, compounded by a protracted and at times ambiguous investigation. We now need time and privacy to grieve, and let our Ciara finally rest in peace.”
Durkin was a lesbian and was engaged to be married to her longtime partner when she returned home from service in February.
