A view from the UK .....

'After seeking 30 years in prison for Hamdan, in a military tribunal, before a military jury, and in a trial where many rights normally afforded defendants in a civilian court were greatly curtailed, the five and a half year sentence was nothing short of a disaster for the Bush administration.

It now finds itself in the unattractive position - in the eyes of civil libertarians and much of the international community at least - of refusing to release Hamdan even after he completes his sentence. He is eligible for release in just five months, but the White House has made clear for months that whatever happened to Hamdan, he would still be held indefinitely because of his classification as an "unlawful enemy combatant".

The six-member jury of military officers had already made clear that they were not there to do the prosecution's bidding when they acquitted Hamdan on Wednesday of the more serious charge of conspiring to attack civilians, finding him guilty instead on the lesser charge of providing support to al-Qaeda

He was arrested at a road block in Afghanistan in November 2001, with two surface-to-air missiles in his car.'

From Times Online august 8th