ANOTHER IDEOLOGUE GOES BYE-BYE

And it's about time! This general was obviously unfit for his job months ago and now he's been taken off another case.

U.S. general barred from another Guantanamo trial
Thu Aug 14, 2008 4:10pm EDT

By Jane Sutton

GUANTANAMO BAY U.S. NAVAL BASE, Cuba (Reuters) - A U.S. general described by colleagues as a bully was barred on Thursday from further involvement in the war crimes trial of a young Afghan prisoner at Guantanamo, the second time the legal advisor has been blocked from a case.

Jawad's military lawyers said the charges should be thrown out because they were tainted by unlawful influence from Air Force Brig. Gen. Thomas Hartmann, the officer appointed to give impartial legal advice to the Pentagon appointee overseeing the war crimes tribunals at the U.S. military base in Cuba.

The judge said there was evidence Hartmann "desired to control the entire operation" but that the decision to charge Jawad was made independently by an acting chief prosecutor.

Still, he said Hartmann's public statements aligning himself with the prosecution had compromised his ability to act impartially in an appeals process if Jawad is convicted.

The ruling came a day after another U.S. general testified that Hartmann was "abusive, bullying and unprofessional" and tried to dictate what charges would be filed. The former chief military prosecutor testified that Hartmann demanded "sexy" cases and moved Jawad's to the front of the line.

Here's the story about the other general who criticized Hartmann:

Guantanamo trials put generals at odds
Wed Aug 13, 2008 6:50pm EDT
By Jane Sutton

GUANTANAMO BAY U.S. NAVAL BASE, Cuba (Reuters) - The U.S. military was so eager to get the sluggish Guantanamo war crimes trials moving that the legal adviser to the Pentagon overseer adopted a "spray and pray" approach to pursuing charges, a U.S. general testified on Wednesday.

"The strategy seemed to be spray and pray, let's go, speed, speed, speed," Army. Brig. Gen. Gregory Zanetti said. "Charge 'em, charge 'em, charge 'em and let's pray that we can pull this off."

Zanetti characterized Hartmann as "abusive, bullying and unprofessional" and said he regularly delivered profanity-laced tirades that reduced an airborne ranger to "a puddle."

He quoted Hartmann as saying he was "taking over this thing" and that he advised Guantanamo officers during videoconferences "who he was going to charge and when."