Bush is Grandstanding Before the Election

Why would Bush all of a sudden be interested in prosecuting the illegal detainees? No one is challenging him directly. The polls don't show this to be a particularly weighty issue. There can be only one real reason. The President wants to look presidential before the election so as to look strong against the terrorists to attempt the minimize the damage the Republicans stand to face in these mid-term elections. We'll be seeing some incredible showboating from here on. Notice however, while there may be highly publicized tribunals, there will be no convictions...or acquitals before November.
WaPo

President Bush yesterday announced the transfer of the last 14 suspected terrorists held by the CIA at secret foreign prisons to the military detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and said he wants to try them before U.S. military panels under proposed new rules he simultaneously sent to Congress.

br />
Bush's statement during an impassioned East Room speech represented the first time he has confirmed the existence of the CIA program under which Khalid Sheik Mohammed, the self-proclaimed mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, and others have been secretly held and subjected to irregular interrogation methods.

br />
The president's dramatic speech committed Washington to putting senior al-Qaeda members -- including some believed to be the architects of the attacks -- on trial in proceedings that may be at least partly open. Only one person, Zacarias Moussaoui, has been convicted of conspiring in the attacks, and he had little to do with the actual plot.