Democrats continue to demand habeas corpus rights for jihadists--or, rather, additional habeas corpus rights.

Democrats continue to demand habeas corpus rights for jihadists--or, rather, additional habeas corpus rights. The idea that Guantanamo Bay is a "legal black hole" from which detainees cannot challenge their detention is a fiction, no matter how often the New York Times reports it as fact. Each detainee is entitled to a review tribunal in order to verify his status as an enemy combatant. In addition, any detainee who is charged with a war crime is entitled to a military-commission trial. The detainees are then permitted to appeal the results of these tribunals and trials through the higher military courts. Finally, when all avenues of military appeals are exhausted, they have an extraordinary right--unprecedented in the history of U.S. warfare--to challenge the military proceedings in the civilian court system. There is a powerful legal case that the constitutional right of habeas corpus does not apply at all to unlawful enemy combatants, and that any statutory protections we grant them are purely discretionary. Wouldn't Congress's time be better spent making sure our troops have the resources they need for battle than giving our enemies additional bites at the judicial apple?