"After nearly 18 months of deliberation, Pentagon officials are laying the final groundwork to hold military commissions for suspected al-Qaida members captured on the battlefield in Afghanistan and elsewhere....behind the scenes, Department of Defense officials are mobilizing legal teams to prosecute and defend the cases. "

Reports are that "the Defense Department is strongly considering Army Col. Frederic Borch III for chief prosecutor and Air Force Col. Willie Gunn for chief defense counsel. Active duty and reserve judge advocates with all branches of the military have been identified to serve as assistant prosecutors and defense counsel."

A lot of questions remain unanswered, particularly concerning protections afforded to those on trial and their ability to have civilian defense counsel.

According to DOD regulations, defendants brought before military commissions are entitled to free military counsel and can request civilian defense counsel if it can be arranged at no expense to the government. Civilian lawyers must be U.S. citizens and obtain high-level security clearances.

Private defense lawyers say they are concerned that the Pentagon will bar them from contacting detainees or traveling to Guantanamo Bay. "The Pentagon has made it virtually impossible for any civilian attorney to take one of these cases," says Donald Rehkopf, co-chair of the military law committee of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.

"Any of us would take a case. It's very important to the system," says George Washington University Law Professor Jonathan Turley, who represented acquitted Navy officer Daniel King on espionage charges. "The problem is, the rules say defendants are entitled to civilian counsel, but the administration has barred attorneys' access to the detainees."

We're with Turley--let the private bar in.