The Mystery of General Martins's Early Retirement De-mystified

Over the summer we speculated as to why General Martins was retiring as Chief Prosecutor of the Guantanamo Commissions. NYT has updated a story from that time and the update appears to resolve that question in a way that is not at all flattering to General Martins:

"The chief prosecutor at Guantánamo for a decade, Brig. Gen. Mark S. Martins, had cited a statement obtained through torture, clashing with senior administration officials who questioned his authority to do so. The dispute played a part in his unexpected decision to retire from the Army 15 months early, on Sept. 30." (full story here).

The ruling by the military judge that torture evidence could be admitted for pretrial purposes is preposterous, and treats such evidence as if it were some technical "exclusionary rule" exception like a Miranda violation admitted for impeachment purposes. Anyone authoring such an opinion has lost the forest for the trees. 

Brenner Fissell

EIC