Trial of Alleged USS Cole Bomber Halted

According to today's Washington Post, the Justice Department quietly announced that it plans to stop its planned prosecution of Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri. The Saudi national was alleged to have masterminded the suicide bombing of the USS Cole in Aden nearly a decade ago. His capture and subsequent incarceration at Guantanamo Bay was a headline in the post-September 11th era. He and other Guantanamo prisoners remain a sticking point for American and international jurisprudence, as well as for the often very dirty business of counterterrorism.

The Bush (43) Administration's insidious twisting of judicial standards remains a heavy burden for America. The Obama Administration, which made closing Guantanamo a presidential campaign position, has backed away from the issue without expressing any clear line of reasoning for its decision. One wonders why.

The Justice Department's decision on Mr. al-Rahim al-Nashiri's case reminds one of another Bush Administration initiative that didn't go exactly according to plan. The administration publicly declared its interest in tracking down terrorist funding, especially through the hawala network. This effort threatened the core of a great deal of very unpleasant activity, possibly among sensitive, high-level Middle East officials, families, and religious figures. It also had the potential to inconveniently expose connections between Western institutions and double dealing Middle East figures.

The unloved program fell out of the light and eventually lost bureaucratic support. Meanwhile, the Cole case remains in limbo. Guantanamo remains open. What's wrong with this picture?