Military tribunals have not sat well with my concience during the whole post-9/11 affair. I think this essay by Robert Levy sums things up nicely. The meat of the conclusion:
Here's the argument in a nutshell. If the Bill of Rights applies to unlawful combatants in the United States, the Bush military order is unconstitutional. If the law of war is in force, then military tribunals in the United States must be, first, subject to civil judicial review; second, authorized by Congress; and third, limited to prosecuting unlawful combatants. In any event, the order as it now stands is illegitimate, and those of us who say so are not, in the attorney general's unfortunate and offensive words, "giving ammunition to America's enemies," "aiding terrorists," or "eroding our national unity." Instead, we are upholding the Constitution; securing the values that sustain a free society; and, at the same time, preserving for the president the option of using military tribunals outside of the United States -- where they belong.
