March 28, 2008
CNN just mentioned that they're talking about shutting it down and that will be a huge step toward improving our reputation in the eyes of allies and whatnot.
This, I suspect, is because our allies and whatnot are idiots. "Whatnot" seems to correspond heavily with "Liberal, Do-Gooder, Hippie-Types."
The facilities at "Gitmo" don't seem very bad at all and closing the prison isn't going to stop the government from "detaining" "persons of interest." So, I really don't see how closing this one jail will address whatever the essential issue is for these people.
But are we surprised that some highly publicized and very emotional issue is based on some misapprehension of essential issues? Nope.
Posted by: Flibbertigibbet at
08:39 AM
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Category: Politickin'
Post contains 139 words, total size 1 kb.
Flibbs, did you happen to catch Frontline's new documentary, "Bush's War?" The documentary can be viewed in its entirety online at http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/. During the early days of the war, Donald Rumsfeld had our army rounding up every man they could get their hands on in an attempt to get intel--combatant or not. These people were then moved to Gitmo specifically because it existed outside any legal jurisdiction. There are, without question, innocent people being held at Gitmo for several years without the benefit of being charged with a crime.
You may think this is good and well, but thanks to the Military Commissions Act, the President now has the authority to declare anyone, including U.S. Citizens, an "unlawful enemy combatant." This has the effect of stripping away ALL rights: habeas corpus, Geneva Conventions, etc... So far I've only heard of this happening in Michigan, where there is a large Muslim population. Still, the Military Commissions Act defines an unlawful enemy combatant as “an individual engaged in hostilities against the United States who is not a lawful enemy combatant.” The definition of “hostilities” is broad enough to include any American citizen who is acting in a way the President deems “hostile” to the United States.
So I think you would be very concerned. At the whim of the president, you too can be whisked away to sunny Guatanamo Bay, never to be heard from again.
By the way, as of six months ago (I can't find more recent stats), there were over 750,000 individuals on the terror watch list--a list that grows by 20,000 every month.
Posted by: mchance27 at March 28, 2008 09:23 AM (eh9MR)
The Act does purport to strip all courts (except the DC Circuit) of jurisdiction to hear appeals of the "enemy combatant" classification, including the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court will be looking at the entire issue, including Congress' power under the Constitution to strip appellate jurisdiction from the Supreme Court and whether the Act works an unconstitutional suspension of habeas corpus, in Boumediene v. Bush, which was argued last December. The Court will issue a ruling in early Summer.
~Q
Posted by: Qwertz at March 28, 2008 12:10 PM (oVF+F)
Mean to Fidel = Bad for America!
Posted by: Brian J. at March 28, 2008 12:25 PM (CkCC9)
What I'm concerned about is the fact that so many people are concerned about those particulars without any attention to the principles in question here.
Posted by: Flibbertigibbet at March 29, 2008 09:33 PM (ru7wW)
Principles are rocks in the windsock, you know.
Posted by: Brian J. at March 31, 2008 03:16 PM (CkCC9)
I remember reading somewhere that the inmates of Gitmo were the first war-time prisoners to actually gain weight.
Sheesh.
Posted by: Daniel Rigby at April 08, 2008 09:40 AM (0Vwko)
Posted by: mchance27 at April 08, 2008 10:57 AM (eh9MR)
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