Sorry, I don't see the problem. Could you explain it to the non-lawyer contingent?
The Judge went way out on a limb to defend not just conservative principle, but the well-meaning bona fides of the executive officers pushing the original position to his fellow judges of the legitimacy and need for the military panels.
The effect of Gonzales reversal of position for this case is to say, "never mind" and pull the rug right out from under the only real friend the Administration had in the 4th Circuit. And undermines there ever being any use of their 4th Circuit opinion that Luttig had engineered...personally.