LAW FROM THE CENTER

What you see is not necessarily what you get.

That was the common reaction here to Maj. Michael Mori, an intense, energetic, 38-year-old American who became a near celebrity in Australia when he was here earlier this month.

He is an officer in the United States Marine Corps and looks it - powerful physique, chiseled features, military haircut. But when he speaks, he sometimes sounds like a lawyer for the American Civil Liberties Union, sharply criticizing the Bush administration's policy toward the detainees at GuantÀanamo Bay, Cuba, calling the military tribunals before which some will be tried ``kangaroo courts.''

``We can't work it out,'' said Minna Muhlen-Schulte, an art student at the University of New South Wales, referring to the disconnect between Major Mori's image and his views. Having seen him on the news, she had come to hear him in person.

Major Mori sees no contradiction. He is an American, and he is a marine. But he is also a lawyer for David Hicks, an Australian who was captured in Afghanistan more than two years ago and has been held at GuantÀanamo since. Major Mori was in Australia to investigate the case, and has been besieged by television, radio and print journalists.

``What I'm saying about the system isn't leftist,'' he said one recent morning here, speaking of the tribunals. ``It offends my understanding of what justice is that's been ingrained in me by the Marine Corps and by my legal training.''

Major Mori describes himself as apolitical - he says it does not matter to him if there are four more years of President Bush, ``followed by eight years of Jeb,'' or if Senator John Kerry is the next president. He says his objections to the military commissions are the same as those the Bush administration has to the International Criminal Court. Both have unchecked power, and both can be misused for politically motivated prosecutions, he said.