Yesterday’s announcement that President Bush has designated six prisoners as eligible for trials before military commissions is an incremental, but significant, step in turning a theoretical possibility into a practical reality. “What we’ve had so far is the establishment of a framework,” said Eugene R. Fidell, the president of the National Institute of Military Justice. “The one thing they haven’t had so far are defendants. Now they have a class of people who are honest-to-Pete eligible.” The government did not say yesterday who the prisoners eligible for these trials were, though many people assume they are among the more than 600 prisoners held at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. And it is hard to say whether they will be pleased or distressed at the prospect of a trial. Full Story