Monday, June 25, 2007  A disturbing window into the CSRT
process:  Lieutenent Colonel Stephen Abraham of the U.S. Army
Reserves, (a Newport Beach attorney in his civilian life) has
seen the CSRT (combatant status review tribunal) process first
hand. He has been on a tribunal himself and has served as a go-
between various agencies compiling information for the
tribunals.  In a sworn statement submitted to the Supreme Court
in the Al-Odah and Boumediene cases, Abraham makes it clear that
the CSRT is a sham process and that the limited review of the
CSRT findings provided by the Detainee Treatment Act are an
inadequate substitute for habeas corpus. In poking around
various intelligence agencies and offices, Abraham found that
there was never any serious attempt to compile possible
exculpatory information regarding a prisoner, and that the
officers involved in compiling information for the CSRT recorder
were often inexperienced and had no legal or intelligence
expertise.  Abraham's description of his own experien