Gitmo Alert: Bin Laden's Driver Acquitted of Serious Charge, Found Guilty of Another

News has hit that Hamdan was just found guilty of the lesser charge of material support for terrorism by the military tribunal in Gitmo. Hamdan was acquitted on the more serious charge of conspiracy by the same jury, which is a blow to the Bush Administration's hopes for a full vindication of its methods. That they could not secure a conviction from a hand-picked military jury on a terrorism charge they dearly wanted a guilty on will be picked over for days to come, I'm certain. Via NYTimes:

The military commission conviction of the former driver, Salim Ahmed Hamdan, a Yemeni who was part of a select group of drivers and bodyguards for Mr. bin Laden until 2001, was a long-sought, if some what qualified, victory for the Bush administration, which has been working to begin military commission trials at the isolated naval base here for nearly seven years.

Sentencing will take place in a separate hearing to begin this afternoon. I keep thinking back to Ben Wizner's post from over the weekend from "Camp Justice:"