a court martial for any detainee who is a prisoner of war, or whose status is in doubt. At a court martial, defendants have a far greater ability to see, and challenge, the prosecution's evidence.

Bush and the Pentagon ruled that Hamden was not a POW because he worked for al Qaeda, which is not a traditional army. But,

Article 5 of the Third Geneva Convention says prisoners can be denied P.O.W. status only by a competent tribunal. Judge Robertson said the administration did not give Mr. Hamdan the sort of proceeding that would be necessary to deny him his rights.

According to the Times, this is business as usual for the Bush administration:

The Bush administration has a history of flouting the law, and the treaties to which the United States is a signatory, as part of the so-called war on terror. It argued, until the Supreme Court ruled otherwise in June, that the detainees in Gitmo had no right to challenge their confinement, and even tried to apply "unlawful combatant" status to American citizens at the president's discretion. Earlier this year, a now-infamous Justice Department memo came to light that set out a road map for avoiding legal prohibitions on the use of torture.

The Times criticizes Bush's decision to appeal Robertson's ruling:

America's image abroad will take another beating, and our soldiers will be in even greater danger in the future of being denied Geneva Convention protections should they be captured. The administration should drop the appeal and concentrate instead on upgrading its flawed policies.