The Hero of Guantanamo

Heroes don't always get praise and parades. They're often scapegoated, vilified and ignored until they are safely dead. But their sacrifice is worthy of honor. For example, a U.S. Navy lieutenant commander named Charles Swift.

He's a lawyer who was assigned the task of representing a prisoner at Guantanamo. He could have done a perfunctory job, going through the motions to please his military commanders. But he didn't. He took his defendant's claim of injustice through the U.S. court system, right up to the Supreme Court. He defied the polices of the Secretary of Defense and the President. In doing so, he not only damaged his military career, he probably ended it.

But his case decided this week--Hamden v. Rumsfeld--has gone a long way to bringing America back to the rule of law, and back into the international human community.

Charles Swift isn't alone. He said in an interview that he received support from most of his fellow JAG officers. "The one that I remember most, though, is a friend of mine from the Naval Academy. I went back for my 20 year reunion. He’s a marine and he’s an outstanding marine and he’s been in many combat situations, and he took me aside and I thought, this might be the time. And instead, what he said to me was, you know, the rule of law, that’s what I’m out here fighting to preserve. Don’t you dare stop..."

But the Rabid Right is calling him a traitor, and few of those who support decision say anything about Charles Swift. Washington Post defense analyst Bill Arkin calls him "the hero of Guantanamo." His fight for his client is far from over, but his victory so far is a victory for all Americans and for the Republic itself.