The Guardian reports that the Pentagon fired some of the defense lawyers it previously recruited to represent detainees facing military tribunals because they rebelled against the unfair rules:

A former military lawyer with good contacts in the US military legal establishment said that the first group of defence lawyers the Pentagon recruited for Guantanamo balked at the commission rules, which insist, among other restrictions, that the government be allowed to listen in to any conversations between attorney and client.

"There was a circular that went out to military lawyers in the early spring of 2003 which said 'we are looking for volunteers' for defence counsel," said the ex-military lawyer. "There was a selection process, and the people they selected were the right people, they had the right credentials, they were good lawyers.

"The first day, when they were being briefed on the dos and don'ts, at least a couple said: 'You can't impose these restrictions on us because we can't properly represent our clients.' "When the group decided they weren't going to go along, they were relieved. They reported in the morning and got fired that afternoon."

The Pentagon denies the claim, but the Guardian stands by it and further says that the remaining team of six defense lawyers is very dissatisfied with the rules. The Guardian's source says: