The Current Discussion: A U.S. military tribunal court has convicted Osama bin Laden's driver Salim Hamdan of providing material support for terrorism after detaining him for nearly seven years. Is this a step forward or a step back in the war or terror?

The United States has just convicted the first of the Guantanamo detainees accused of terrorism. It's a step forward. It most likely was an imperfect trial, with many procedural deficiencies, but that is better than what has been happening so far: people imprisoned without the right to a fair trial. I am not sure that this was a fair trial, but at least it was a trial. Unfortunately, in its war against Al Qaeda, the United States has violated many of the principles on which the nation stands. The United States may not torture, even though the al-Qaeda murderers and their henchmen do it. Nor can it incarcerate suspects for years without bringing them to justice. That's called kidnapping, even if the people are guilty. If the United States is a country guided by the rule of law, not a banana republic, it has to impart justice by means of fair laws based on the spirit of the Constitution.

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