One Small Step ...

... but a giant leap to reclaim habeas corpus, due process and justice in the U.S.?

Indeed:

President Obama takes first step toward closing Guantanamo Bay

True to his word, President Barack Obama has taken the first step to closing the infamous prison at Guantanamo Bay, asking military prosecutors to suspend legal proceedings for 120 days.

The reason invoqued by the Obama White House for such an adjournment is the following:

It is the first in a series of delays sought by Obama as his administration reviews the legal system for prosecuting alleged terrorists.

In any case, said request was acquiesced:

U.S. judge halts proceedings against Omar Khadr

The U.S. military judge presiding over Canadian Omar Khadr's war-crimes case at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, granted an adjournment on Wednesday of 120 days at the request of the new administration of President Barack Obama.

Mind you, this is only an adjournment of the proceedings against Omar Khadr:

The adjournment ordered by Col. Patrick Parrish does not withdraw the charges against Khadr or expunge any evidence presented against him at this week's pretrial hearings, the CBC's Susan Ormiston reported Wednesday from Guantanamo Bay.

Indeed (emphasis added):

Lt.-Cmdr. William Kuebler, Khadr's Pentagon-appointed lawyer, said the adjournment is akin to a dismissal of charges against his client.

(...)

Kuebler suggested the decision to temporarily adjourn the proceedings, rather than drop the charges altogether - which he had earlier sought -- was political.

"If they had actually withdrawn charges in the cases that could have been reported as charges being dropped...I think from a political standpoint the optics of a suspension or a stay are preferable," he said.

The defence is "very pleased" with the move by Obama, and believes it signals the beginning of the end for the military tribunal process in Guantanamo, Kuebler said.

However, he acknowledged that the U.S. could still decide to bring Khadr back to American soil and proceed with a trial there.

He has argued that Khadr - accused of lobbing the grenade that killed a U.S. soldier -- should be treated as a child soldier.

In the meantime, the ball falls right back in the hands of our Prime Minister (emphasis added):

"I think the practical effect will be the same, which is this process is done and there is no more ongoing process that Prime Minister Harper can use as a pretext for not acting on Omar's behalf," Kuebler told CTV Newsnet.

Khadr, 22, is accused of killing an American soldier in Afghanistan in July 2002, when he was 15.

He has been held at Gitmo since he was 16.

Harper has so far declined to request the repatriation of Khadr, saying it's not his place to interfere with another country's legal process.

As a result, Khadr is the only Western prisoner still remaining in the facility. Kuebler said the judicial process is now effectively over, and Harper's rationale no longer stands.

"I think the door is open now for Prime Minister Harper to say the proceedings have been terminated, there's no process to defer to, and we can effectively bring him home," he said.

Let us wait and see what Harper and his Harpies will do, shall we?

(But I am not holding my breath on this one ...)

In any event - I welcome such news with guarded optimism. This one is a great shining ray of hope - not only for Omar Kadhr, but as well for the end of those repugnant military commissions.

The next 120 days will tell ... one way or another.