FORT MEADE, Md. – Lawyers for a Guantanamo Bay detainee accused of orchestrating the deadly bombing of the USS Cole are asking a judge to dismiss six of the 11 counts because of what they call U.S. hypocrisy.
A military judge heard arguments Wednesday at a pretrial hearing in Cuba for Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri.
Defense lawyers say the ruse of disguising a bomb-laden boat as an innocent fishing friendly is an acceptable form of naval warfare. They showed a U.S. government video depicting plans for such a tactic during World War II.
Prosecutors counter that such an argument has been universally rejected as a criminal defense.
Seventeen U.S. sailors died in the 2000 attack in Yemen.
The hearing is being shown in a video feed at Fort Meade, near Baltimore.
