Now that the chief prosecutor and chief defense counsel for any upcoming military tribunal trials are set, the issue turns to staffing the offices with capable prosecutors and defense counsel. While there is no shortage of volunteers for the prosecution side, not a single civilian lawyer has applied to be a defense lawyer.

No, it's not because defense lawyers don't wan't to represent these particular individuals.

Don Rehkopf, a Rochester lawyer who is co-chairman of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers' military law committee, said in a telephone interview that the military rules were so stacked against the defense that few civilian lawyers would want to apply.

"It would be unethical for any attorney to agree to the conditions they've set," Mr. Rehkopf said. "You have to agree to waive the attorney-client privilege so that the government can monitor your conversations. It's a total farce."

See our post from yesterday about the conditions placed on civilian defense lawyers representing defendants in military tribunal proceedings, and the ethical problems they pose.