Republicans Anonymous

Bush League Evil Genius Karl Rove says only "liberals" would seek indictments against terrorists. I guess the US Army thinks the liberals know more than The Bush League's "Brain:"

Hassan's conviction was a breakthrough in the military's increasingly successful effort to prosecute those who target its troops, Army lawyers here said. Since March 30, 18 people have received life sentences from the court for crimes related to attacks against coalition forces, according to Maj. J. Ed Christiansen of Task Force 134, which processes detainees and their legal cases. No one previously had been sentenced to life in prison.

The Hassan case has helped bring about more comprehensive training for front-line soldiers in gathering crime-scene evidence and highlights the challenges facing military lawyers in Iraq's legal system, which they are still working to understand. For example, before Hassan was convicted, the Iraqi prosecutor on the case sought to have it dismissed, citing an alibi the defendant had offered.

In recent weeks, lawyers with the Army's 3rd Infantry Division -- to which Irizarry was assigned -- began providing counterinsurgency units with kits containing cameras, explosive detection devices and pens and paper for sketching diagrams of the events. A slide show prepared by judge advocates shows soldiers how to photograph crime scenes and place evidence in plastic bags without smearing fingerprints.

"Hopefully, you are going to see more of these convictions as our lawyers get a better handle on the justice system and our soldiers get more comfortable with how to gather evidence," said Col. William Hudson, staff judge advocate for the 3rd Infantry Division. "People who commit crimes against us and against Iraqi society should be held accountable."...
(Source: Washington Post For Soldier, a Posthumous Day in Iraqi Court, June 28, 2005 [emphasis added.])

Interesting that the party condemning folks for treating terrorism as a criminal justice problem have ordered the US Army to turn accused Iraqi terrorists over to iraq's criminal justice system. Maybe we shouldn't rub Karl Rove's face in it though, it's such a good idea for winning hearts and minds that he'd probably order W to have the practice stopped immediately.