This month Ahmed Ressam was sentenced to 22 years in prison by US District Court Judge John Coughenour in a Seattle court room. Ressam, from Algeria, was convicted of bringing bomb-making materials across the Canadian border into Washington state in December 1999 in a plot to stage a terrorist attack on the Los Angeles International Airport.

Judge Coughenour, a Reagan appointee, used Ressam's sentencing as an opportunity to speak out against US policies in the "War on Terror." He declared that secret tribunals and other anti-terrorism programs threaten to undermine the ideals that set the US apart from other nations.

In an emotional statement Coughenour said, "The tragedy of Sept. 11 shook our sense of security and made us realize that we, too, are vulnerable to acts of terrorism. Unfortunately, some believe that this threat renders our Constitution obsolete. ... If that view is allowed to prevail, the terrorists will have won."

"We did not need to use a secret military tribunal," he said, "or detain the defendant indefinitely as an enemy combatant, or deny him the right to counsel. ... We can deal with the threats to our national security without denying the accused fundamental constitutional protections."

A White House spokesman declined to comment on Coughenour's remarks. Reporters have been advised that their questions should be addressed to the Justice Department.