Until a few days ago, Charles “Cully” Stimson, a former JAG officer and prosecutor, served as assistant secretary of defense for detainee affairs. I met him recently when I visited the detention facilities at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where the most dangerous of America’s enemy combatants are held.
Many of those who criticize Guantanamo allege that detainees at the facility do not have legal representation. They are either misinformed or lying: Not only does the International Committee of the Red Cross have regular access to detainees, there also are scores of American attorneys representing detainees on a pro bono basis.
Why do they do that? Maybe it is because they are genuinely concerned about protecting due process for detainees. Or maybe it is because they are, as Stimson said “receiving moneys from who-knows-where.” (Or – and this is my conjecture – perhaps they are currying favor with governments and groups that are or can become rewarding clients.)
In any event, Stimson’s statement got him into trouble with what the wire services are calling “the legal community.” That “community” was not satisfied by Stimson’s subsequent apology. On Feb. 2 he resigned from his position. A Pentagon spokesman said the controversy over his statement “hampered his ability to be effective in this position.”