GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba -- A U.S. military tribunal sentenced an Australian to nine months in prison Friday after he pleaded guilty to supporting terrorism -- the first conviction at a U.S. war-crimes trial since World War II.A panel of military officers had recommended a term of seven years, but a plea agreement that had been kept secret from the panel capped the sentence at nine months for David Hicks, who has been held at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay for more than five years.
Hicks, a 31-year-old kangaroo skinner and confessed Taliban-allied gunman, appeared relieved as the judge, Marine Corps Col. Ralph Kohlmann, disclosed the agreement. Asked if the outcome was what he was told to expect, Hicks said, ''Yes, it was.''
The United States had agreed to let Hicks serve his sentence in Australia, and he is to leave the Cuba-based prison within 60 days under the plea agreement.
I am speechless.