Adam Serwer on how civil liberties and human rights groups are fighting a two-front battle over how America tries terrorism detainees:
Civil-liberties and human-rights groups want to see suspected terrorists tried in federal court on criminal charges. They don’t want to see them tried by military commission or in any venue where the evidence against them could be the product of torture or coercion. But in the last few weeks, these groups have found themselves fighting a two-front battle: continuing to call for the end of trial by military commissions, while at the same time trying to convince the Senate to adopt changes to the commissions ensuring due process and oversight.