Both the Republican and Democratic presidential candidates hailed the conviction of Hamdan, while bemoaning the long delay in bringing him to trial. Particularly noteworthy was the fervent embrace of the drumhead proceeding by Democratic candidate Barack Obama. The former instructor in constitutional law at the University of Chicago said nothing about the gross perversion of democratic rights and due process at Guantánamo.

In a statement characterized by prostration before the military and full acceptance of the Bush administration's bogus "war on terror," Obama declared: "I commend the military officers who presided over this trial and served on the hearing panel under difficult and unprecedented circumstances. They and all our Armed Forces continue to serve this country with valor in the fight against terrorism."

Obama criticized the Bush administration, not for its gross violation of the democratic and human rights of Hamdan and other Guantánamo prisoners, but for "dangerous flaws in the administration's legal framework" that led to lengthy legal challenges.

"It's time to better protect the American people and our values by bringing swift and sure justice to terrorists through our courts and our Uniform Code of Military Justice," Obama said. "And while it is important to convict anyone who provides material support for terrorism, it is long past time to capture or kill Osama bin Laden and the terrorists who murdered nearly 3,000 Americans."

In this way, Obama sought to demonstrate yet again to the US ruling elite that he will be just as ruthless as Bush or McCain in the use of violence and repression to defend the interests of American imperialism.