Politics > Politics-USA > Illegal secret prisons, military tribunals, torture, warrantless wiretapping, no successful convictions.
| Topic: |
Politics > Politics-USA |
| User: |
"Harry Hope" |
| Date: |
11 Sep 2006 12:56:29 PM |
| Object: |
Illegal secret prisons, military tribunals, torture, warrantless wiretapping, no successful convictions. |
Spurious George has been on a real roll lately, and last week he made
four important announcements.
First, he wants Congress to pass new laws giving him "additional
authority" to conduct his warrantless wiretapping operation.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/07/AR2006090700837.html
Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't this just an admission that he
didn't have the legal authority to conduct this program previously?
And if that's the case, doesn't it mean that he's been breaking the
law this whole time?
And if that's the case, then shouldn't the Republicans who control
Congress perhaps hold some investigations or oversight hearings or...
Ha ha!
Yeah, right.
Second, remember when the White House was fuming about Dana Priest's
Washington Post story on secret CIA prisons?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/04/AR2006030400867.html
Apparently that wasn't such a big deal after all, because last week
Our Great Leader declared that he was going to "transfer 14 suspected
terrorists to a U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, from
secret CIA detention centers."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/06/AR2006090602050.html?nav=rss_world
It seems that George has had these suspected terrorists locked up for
a few years now but hasn't actually been able to prosecute any of
them.
Which brings us to announcement three:
the Bush administration has revealed that - ta da! - they're going to
start abiding by the Geneva Conventions.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/11/AR2006071100094_pf.html
Which, as previously noted, seems to imply that for the past several
years they haven't been abiding by the Geneva Conventions.
So much for "We do not torture."
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2005-11-07-bush-terror-suspects_x.htm?POE=NEWISVA
The Bush administration has agreed to apply the Geneva Conventions to
all terrorism suspects in U.S. custody, bowing to the Supreme Court's
recent rejection of policies that have imprisoned hundreds for years
without trials.
The Pentagon announced yesterday that it has called on military
officials to adhere to the conventions in dealing with al-Qaeda
detainees.
The administration also has decided that even prisoners held by the
CIA in secret prisons abroad must be treated in accordance with
international standards, an interpretation that would prohibit
prisoners from being subjected to harsh treatment in interrogations,
several U.S. officials said.
So now that the Bush administration have brought back those "quaint"
Geneva Conventions, how's he going to deal with the terrorists?
Well, Bush's fourth important announcement last week was that he's
going to try the terror suspects in front of military tribunals.
Despite the fact that the Supreme Court has already said that those
tribunals are illegal.
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/sfgate/detail?blogid=15archive/&entry_id=8671
It's okay though - Bush's new-and-improved military tribunals will
surely do the job!
Try telling that to "key Republicans and top military lawyers."
The Bush administration's proposal to bring leading terror suspects
before military tribunals met stiff resistance on Thursday from key
Republicans and top military lawyers who said that some provisions
would not withstand legal scrutiny or do enough to repair the nation's
tarnished reputation internationally. - Houston Chronicle
The U.S. military's top legal officers on Thursday criticized a White
House plan for military tribunals to try foreign terrorism suspects
because it would allow convictions based on evidence never seen by the
defendants. The military judge advocates general, senior legal
advisers to their branches of the armed forces, told Congress the plan
failed to give suspects enough legal rights because it restricted
their access to evidence. - Reuters
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N07352722.htm
So that's illegal secret prisons, illegal military tribunals, illegal
torture, illegal warrantless wiretapping, and no successful
convictions.
Can't you do anything right, turd-boy?
By EarlG
Democratic Underground
http://www.democraticunderground.com/
Harry
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| User: "jmcgill" |
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| Title: Re: Illegal secret prisons, military tribunals, torture, warrantlesswiretapping, no successful convictions. |
11 Sep 2006 01:00:09 PM |
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Harry Hope wrote:
Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't this just an admission that he
didn't have the legal authority to conduct this program previously?
If no one with the authority to do so will lay the consequences at his
feet, then there is no law.
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| User: "ouroboros rex" |
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| Title: Re: Illegal secret prisons, military tribunals, torture, warrantless wiretapping, no successful convictions. |
11 Sep 2006 02:23:29 PM |
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"jmcgill" <jmcgill@email.arizona.edu> wrote in message
news:sthNg.4927$y61.2924@fed1read05...
Harry Hope wrote:
Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't this just an admission that he
didn't have the legal authority to conduct this program previously?
If no one with the authority to do so will lay the consequences at his
feet, then there is no law.
Until we get dems into power, that'll make a fine protest sign.
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