The US Supreme Court March 6 granted a motion by the government to dismiss as moot an appeal challenging the indefinite detention of suspected al-Qaeda operative Ali Saleh Kahlah al-Marri. The Court had agreed in December to hear al-Marri's appeal of a ruling by the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit upholding his detention. Acting Solicitor General Edwin Kneedler presented a motion to the Court, asking it to dismiss the appeal as moot in light of the administration's decision last week to try al-Marri in US federal court. Al-Marri was indicted last week on two charges of providing material support to al-Qaeda and conspiring with others to provide material support to al-Qaeda.

The CIA has destroyed 92 tapes of interrogations of "terror" suspects, far more than previously acknowledged, government lawyers said March 2 in a letter filed as part of a lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). "The large number of videotapes destroyed confirms that the agency engaged in a systematic attempt to hide evidence of its illegal interrogations," said the ACLU's Amrit Singh.

Chairman of the US Senate Judiciary Committee Patrick Leahy (D-VT) called for the creation of a truth commission to investigate the national security policies of the George W. Bush administration at a hearing March 4. Leahy said a nonpartisan inquiry "could focus on the issues of national security and executive power in the government's counter-terrorism efforts, including the issues of cruel interrogation, extraordinary rendition, and executive override of laws.

The UK government's independent reviewer of terror laws March 1 called for a judicial inquiry into British complicity in US "rendition" and torture. The reviewer, Lord Carlile of Berriew, specifically cited the case of Binyam Mohamed, the British resident who alleges that he was tortured with the knowledge of MI5 while held in US custody in Pakistan in 2002. Labour Party Deputy Leader Harriet Harman was non-committal, saying only that, "We'll have to listen to what he [Berriew] says, but at the moment, we've got an investigation by the Attorney General." Asked if she would rule out a judicial inquiry, Harman responded, "We'll just have to see what lies ahead on that."

Our February issue featured the story "Obama's Iraq Withdrawal: 'A Risk That is Unacceptable'?" by Billy Wharton, documenting the bureaucratic slight-of-hand by which "counter-terrorist" troops could remain in Iraq even after "combat troops" have been removed in 2010. Our January Exit Poll was: "After Obama took office, the Washington Post announced in a headline: 'Bush's "War" On Terror Comes to a Sudden End.' Does this mean that World War 4 Report has outlived its mission? If you don't think so, will you please make a $10 donation to encourage us to keep going?" We received the following responses:

Ali Saleh Kahlah al-Marri, a suspected al-Qaeda operative held in the Navy brig in South Carolina since 2003, is to be officially charged and tried in US federal court, following the unsealing of an indictment Feb. 27. Al-Marri, a legal US resident, was arrested in December 2001 in Peoria, Ill., and charged with being part of a terrorist sleeper cell and is the only person held as an enemy combatant in the United States. He is expected to be charged with providing material aid to terrorists. The move comes just two months before the Supreme Court is to hold hearings on al-Marri's petition for habeas corpus.

Lawyers for Canadian detainee Omar Khadr were blocked from attending a scheduled Feb. 24 meeting with Khadr at Guantánamo Bay. Officials have launched an investigation into the ethics of the defense team, and Navy Lt. Cmdr. Bill Kuebler, a military lawyer for Khadr, e-mailed media outlets to state that the investigation was prompted by his own criticism of lead defense counsel Air Force Col. Peter Masciola. Kuebler accused Masciola of having a disqualifying conflict of interest after Masciola allegedly implied that Khadr should face an additional civil trial, contradicting the position of the defense team that Khadr should be returned to Canada.

The US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit ruled Feb. 24 that two former lobbyists may use classified documents in their defense against charges under the 1917 Espionage Act. Steven Rosen and Keith Weissman, previously with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), are charged with conspiring to convey classified US intelligence to the Israeli government. The decision affirms a ruling of the US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia that the defendants would be allowed to use certain classified materials in their defense under the Classified Information Procedures Act (CIPA).