White House getting that Executive Privilege ready as court demands release of Gitmo info.

A federal appeals court ordered the government yesterday to turn over virtually all its information on Guantánamo detainees who are challenging their detention, rejecting an effort by the Justice Department to limit disclosures and setting the stage for new legal battles over the government’s reasons for holding the men indefinitely.

The ruling, which came in one of the main court cases dealing with the fate of the detainees, effectively set the ground rules for scores of cases by detainees challenging the actions of Pentagon tribunals that decide whether terror suspects should be held as enemy combatants.

It was the latest of a series of stinging legal challenges to the administration’s detention policies that have amplified pressure on the Bush administration to find some alternative to Guantánamo, where about 360 men are now being held.

Even in my dreams I could not a imagine the President under more fire then he is these days. Even his own body is turning against him as his colonoscopy revealed five polyps.

But to be serious for a moment this is good news for those demanding justice in this country and I really would not be surprised if the President tried the Executive Privilege defense, even though it is completely inappropriate for this. It seems to be the only weapon left in his defense.