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Military Tribunal Debate Centers on Civil Liberties, Constitution, and Precedent
(Aired Thursday, November 29, 2001 / 5:32 AM ET)
By Daryn Kagan
A Cable News Network Anchor

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.



“A strategy used in 1780 against a British spy named John Andre, used again after the assassination of President Lincoln, and exactly the right remedy today, uncommon trials for uncommon criminals.”
-- Aaron Brown

Let's look at some of the latest numbers that show what Americans think about America's new war, starting with a CNN "USA Today" Gallup Poll. It's a new poll, and it's finding that 9 out of 10 Americans support the current military action in Afghanistan.

About two-thirds of those polled say the U.S. should mount a long-term war to defeat terrorist networks around the world. Looking at the home front, only 1 in 10 say the Bush administration has gone too far in restricting civil liberties to fight terrorism. Six out of 10 say the administration's record on this is just about right, and 1 in 4 say the government has not gone far enough.

Also if Osama bin Laden is captured alive, two-thirds of those polled would prefer to have him put on trial. Most of those prefer an international court rather than a secret U.S. military tribunal or a civilian court. Not a single respondent in the poll believes that Osama bin Laden is an innocent man.

Another poll out there says that nearly 60 percent of Americans support secret military tribunals to try suspected non-citizen terrorists. That issue has critics on both sides of the aisle in the Senate among other legal experts as well.

Our Aaron Brown looks at that.
(More: CNN.com News Source)
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Dan