John Murphy, lead prosecutor in the case, told Allred that allegations of coercion had "cast a black cloud over these agents and those who work with the detainees" and that the judge should allow McFadden's testimony to dispel that taint.
The tribunal's deputy defense chief, Michael J. Berrigan, said the "black cloud" was the government's own creation and called the day's proceedings a farce.
Also Wednesday, the defense called an expert on Islamic militancy and Central Asia who walked the six-member military jury through Afghanistan's brutal and complicated recent history.
Brian Glyn Williams, a professor of Islamic history at the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth, described two largely separate Al Qaeda missions: supporting Islamic warriors and committing terrorist acts against enemy foreign states.
Hamdan was recruited for the former because he lacked the will for carrying out attacks and, having only a fourth-grade education, wasn't capable of joining the elite sleeper cells prepped for overseas terrorist strikes, Williams said.
"I don't see him being that quality of material," Williams said of Hamdan, referring to the engineers, pilots, linguists and technicians Bin Laden groomed for missions like Sept. 11 and the bombings in Madrid and London.
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carol.williams@latimes.com
