Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
Miami Herald
August 14, 2008
Pg. 3
An Army general testified against an Air Force general in a military lawyer's bid to get charges dismissed against a Guantanamo captive.
By Carol Rosenberg
GUANTANAMO BAY NAVY BASE, Cuba -- One general testified against another at the war court Wednesday, describing a Pentagon official fast-tracking trials here as ``abusive, bullying, unprofessional.''
Moreover, Army Brig. Gen. Gregory Zanetti, deputy prison camps commander, in testimony described the approach his counterpart, Air Force Brig. Gen. Thomas Hartmann, employed earlier this year this way:
``Spray and pray. Charge everybody. Let's go. Speed, speed, speed.''
The colorful testimony -- evoking battlefield language -- came in pre-trial hearings in the case of Afghan detainee Mohammed Jawad, accused of wounding two U.S. troops by throwing a grenade in a bazaar in Kabul.
Hartmann is the legal advisor overseeing the first U.S. war crimes tribunals since World War II. Jawad's attorney, Air Force Reserves Maj. David Frakt, wants the Afghan's charges dismissed on grounds that Hartmann exerted ''unlawful influence'' on the trials from his perch at the Pentagon.
Frakt alleges in his motion that Hartmann usurped the role of a prosecutor -- rather than acting dispassionately -- and pushed to get Jawad charged because the case involved battlefield bloodshed.
In June, Hartmann defended his ''intense and direct'' management style in testimony, saying he had pressured for speed to kickstart sluggish commissions, not for political reasons.
What was unusual about Wednesday's testimony was that, while subordinates have described Hartmann's style as abusive ''nano-management,'' this was the first time a general officer of equal rank gave similar testimony.
In telephone calls and teleconferences from the Pentagon, Zanetti said, Hartmann's demeanor ''as an attorney from a thousand miles away'' was ``abusive, bullying and unprofessional. . . pretty much across the board.''
The Pentagon's chief war crimes prosecutor at the time, now-retired Air Force Col. Morris Davis, resigned to protest Hartmann's behavior.
Davis testified Wednesday at a hearing in the case of another war crimes defendant captured in Afghanistan as a teen, Canadian Omar Khadr. The Jawad prosecution ''went from the freezer to the frying pan, thanks to Gen. Hartmann,'' Davis told Khadr's lawyer.
Spokesmen from the Office of Military Commissions declined to comment.
Frakt got a court order from the trial judge to compel the testimony of Zanetti, assigned to Guantánamo from the New Mexico National Guard. Hartmann testified he was called to reserve duty, too, from work as MXenergy general counsel.
Zanetti described struggling with Hartmann over who would run U.S. forces working on trial logistics.
To try to work with Hartmann, who like Zanetti has one star on his uniform, the Army brigadier said he sought to discuss the concept of ''command unity'' with the Air Force brigadier.
''As a principle, it's really been around since Alexander The Great. Most military people understand this one,'' Zanetti said, with a laugh. ``Gen. Hartmann really wanted to run things.''
In a curious twist, it was during Hartmann's tenure that two war court chambers came online, making it possible for two hearings to scrutinize his leadership at the same time.
August 14, 2008
Pg. 3
An Army general testified against an Air Force general in a military lawyer's bid to get charges dismissed against a Guantanamo captive.
By Carol Rosenberg
GUANTANAMO BAY NAVY BASE, Cuba -- One general testified against another at the war court Wednesday, describing a Pentagon official fast-tracking trials here as ``abusive, bullying, unprofessional.''
Moreover, Army Brig. Gen. Gregory Zanetti, deputy prison camps commander, in testimony described the approach his counterpart, Air Force Brig. Gen. Thomas Hartmann, employed earlier this year this way:
``Spray and pray. Charge everybody. Let's go. Speed, speed, speed.''
The colorful testimony -- evoking battlefield language -- came in pre-trial hearings in the case of Afghan detainee Mohammed Jawad, accused of wounding two U.S. troops by throwing a grenade in a bazaar in Kabul.
Hartmann is the legal advisor overseeing the first U.S. war crimes tribunals since World War II. Jawad's attorney, Air Force Reserves Maj. David Frakt, wants the Afghan's charges dismissed on grounds that Hartmann exerted ''unlawful influence'' on the trials from his perch at the Pentagon.
Frakt alleges in his motion that Hartmann usurped the role of a prosecutor -- rather than acting dispassionately -- and pushed to get Jawad charged because the case involved battlefield bloodshed.
In June, Hartmann defended his ''intense and direct'' management style in testimony, saying he had pressured for speed to kickstart sluggish commissions, not for political reasons.
What was unusual about Wednesday's testimony was that, while subordinates have described Hartmann's style as abusive ''nano-management,'' this was the first time a general officer of equal rank gave similar testimony.
In telephone calls and teleconferences from the Pentagon, Zanetti said, Hartmann's demeanor ''as an attorney from a thousand miles away'' was ``abusive, bullying and unprofessional. . . pretty much across the board.''
The Pentagon's chief war crimes prosecutor at the time, now-retired Air Force Col. Morris Davis, resigned to protest Hartmann's behavior.
Davis testified Wednesday at a hearing in the case of another war crimes defendant captured in Afghanistan as a teen, Canadian Omar Khadr. The Jawad prosecution ''went from the freezer to the frying pan, thanks to Gen. Hartmann,'' Davis told Khadr's lawyer.
Spokesmen from the Office of Military Commissions declined to comment.
Frakt got a court order from the trial judge to compel the testimony of Zanetti, assigned to Guantánamo from the New Mexico National Guard. Hartmann testified he was called to reserve duty, too, from work as MXenergy general counsel.
Zanetti described struggling with Hartmann over who would run U.S. forces working on trial logistics.
To try to work with Hartmann, who like Zanetti has one star on his uniform, the Army brigadier said he sought to discuss the concept of ''command unity'' with the Air Force brigadier.
''As a principle, it's really been around since Alexander The Great. Most military people understand this one,'' Zanetti said, with a laugh. ``Gen. Hartmann really wanted to run things.''
In a curious twist, it was during Hartmann's tenure that two war court chambers came online, making it possible for two hearings to scrutinize his leadership at the same time.