Unfair charge

A conservative group is out of line for questioning the loyalty of attorneys now serving in the Justice Department who formerly worked on behalf of suspected terrorist detainees.

The group, Keep America Safe, headed by Liz Cheney, former Vice President Dick Cheney's daughter, last week released a video attacking the government attorneys, referred to as the "al-Qaida Seven."

Is an attorney less than patriotic for defending or otherwise doing legal work for a terrorist suspect? The opposite could be argued.

The United States has debated how to handle the detainees at Guantanamo Bay — whether to try them in civilian courts or military tribunals. Either one would allow them legal representation of some kind.

To move forward with these cases, someone has to do the legal work — unless there is to be no trial at all, a proposal which, many argue, runs counter to U.S. and international law and which, at any rate, has not carried the day.

The group's broadside has drawn fire from conservatives and liberals alike. A letter from the Brookings Institution criticized the "shameful series of attacks" that it said were "unjust to the individuals in question and destructive of any attempt to build lasting mechanisms for counterterrorism adjudications."

In citing "the American tradition of zealous representation of unpopular clients," the letter reminded that John Adams once defended British soldiers charged in the Boston massacre.

The letter was signed by several former Republican administration officials and conservative jurists such as Kenneth Starr.

Our legal system needs attorneys who are willing to defend unpopular suspects accused of abominable crimes.

When suspected war criminals are tried, they are entitled to representation.