Good for the Pentagon brass. They know that their own established, constitutional procedures for trying terror suspects are the best way to bring the perpetrators of 9/11 to justice. They know that Bush's ad hoc, unconstitutional and illegal "tribunals" will only reverberate to al Qaeda's propaganda advantage. They don't want the bill that the White House has sent to the Congress. The three key Republican senators on the armed services committee are expressing reservations as well: McCain, Warner and Graham. But this detail from an AP story struck me as remarkable:
Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., said he wants a vote on the bill by the end of the month and will likely decide Friday morning when the bill should reach the floor. House Majority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, has promised a vote on the administration's measure there during the week of Sept. 18 ...
A leadership aide said Warner, McCain and Graham were given "24 hours to think their position over," indicating a possibility the bill could be routed around the Armed Services Committee and placed directly on the Senate floor.
I would say Frist should be a little careful here. I'd also say this suggests that the White House is deadly serious in maintaining its breach of the Geneva Conventions - and cementing it in law.