    This week the Supreme Court decided to accept a case that
goes directly to the issue of presidential power in time of war
--in particular, the president's authority to try terror
suspects before military tribunals at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
Salim Ahmed Hamdan acknowledges that he used to be Osama bin
Laden's driver, but he maintains that he is not a member of al-
Qaeda, not guilty of murder and conspiracy, and he says the
military commission established to try him violates the US
Constitution and international law.  Two months after the
September the 11th terrorist attacks, President Bush issued a
military order declaring that suspected terrorists would face
trial before military tribunals or commissions. The
administration argued that the elusive nature of international
terrorism made it impracticable to apply regular judicial
processes of US civilian courts to foreign terrorists. And it
was not the first time a president has resorted to extraordinary
procedures. Franklin Roosevelt ordered military tribunals