First Guantanamo Bay War Crimes Trial Underway

It's the first war crimes trial held by the United States since the end of World War 2.

Osama bin Laden's former driver, Salim Ahmed Hamdan, faces charges of conspiracy and providing material support for terrorism and could face life in prison if convicted by a jury of U.S. military officers.

"This military commission is assembled," judge Keith Allred said after the potential jurors were sworn in.

"You must make your determination whether or not he is guilty based solely on the evidence presented here in court and the instructions I will give you," Allred instructed jurors. "You must impartially hear the evidence."

The first trial in the controversial war crimes court got underway 6-1/2 years after the United States opened the prison camp in Cuba to jail suspected al Qaeda and Taliban fighters.

Prosecutors contend Hamdan, a Yemeni in his late 30s, was close to al Qaeda's inner circle and was on the way to a battle zone with two surface-to-air missiles in his car when he was captured in November 2001, shortly after the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan.

Hamdan's lawyers say he is not a member of al Qaeda, and was merely a driver and mechanic in bin Laden's motor pool who needed the $200 (100 pound) monthly salary.

Merely a driver? Right. Someone who drives around a guy who preaches jihad and who vetted those around him for loyalty to the cause? Hamdan's excuse for being in the presence of bin Laden for all that time does pass the smell test.