More: Only far left radicals support the rule of law when it comes to detainees because the right thinking Democratic centrists who do not secretly hate America have decided not to fund moving prisoners and closing the gulag[1]. At least that is the meme in the corporate sponsored media. The reality is that 44 has essentially adopted most of the Regime's "war on terror" policies. Even his stand against torture is compromised by his administration's expressed willingness to use "enhanced interrogation" if a committee signs off on it in advance. At least the Charlatan had the courage of his convictions to torture and seek legal rationalizations later. It's lonely being an "irritated liberal purist". But then you do not have to smell the napalm with your morning joe, or watch your political hero morally compromise himself into the ordinary.Update: {5/16/09}The House passed a war funding bill today without funds for closing down the Guantanamo Bay gulag. Repugnants in Congress are jumping on the issue to embarrass Team 44 who were caught without a plan to transfer the detainees to another facility before announcing their intention to close the offshore gulag. Members of both parties want to see a plan before voting for funds to close down the detention center. Scare tactics abound on Capitol Hill where Repugnants are claiming Al-Qaeda terrorists will soon be walking main street USA. Of course such allegations are complete rubbish intended to scare the ignorant as the government could deport any detainee as an undesirable-- even taking them back to the war zones where they were first taken into custody if their country of origin is unwilling to take them. The fact is new terrorist recruits are made everyday all over the Middle East as the result of the Iran occupation and the war in Afghanistan.
{5/14/09}Another tactic Repugnants use extremely effectively is the irrelevant red herring. A imbroglio has erupted on Capitol Hill over whether Speaker Nancy Pelosi knew about the use of torture, and if she did, why she did not object to its use. The undeniable documented fact is that the Regime implemented torture as a conscious executive policy in violation of the law of nations and federal criminal law (the term torture is defined in Article 18 Section 2340 of the U.S. code). Whether a legislator knew about the use of torture before or after the fact does not relieve liability from those who actually planned and implemented the policy, and over which the Speaker or any other member of the legislative branch had limited control.
Forty-four to the detriment of his image as an agent of change in the morally confused muddle that is Washington DC, is opting for the easy, and wrong, way out of the problem presented by the 241 remaining detainees at Guantanamo Bay. He soundly criticized the military commission tribunals under his predecessor "as an enormous failure" during the presidential campaign. Upon taking office he ordered they be halted pending a review. After a four month hiatus, he has apparently concluded the commissions trying detainees will resume, but may ask for additional legal protections for prisoners. Forty-four is scheduled to meet with Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy and other Congressional leaders on Wednesday to discuss the matter. Senator John McCain led the effort in the Senate to create the commissions in 2006, and gloated that closing Guantanamo without a plan for what to do with the detainees is a "deep hole" for the new administration. Legal scholars view the military commission process as fundamentally flawed since its judgments may rely on tainted evidence--including evidence coerced under torture--and hearsay. A memo released in April by the Department of Justice said Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, self-proclaimed mastermind of the 9/11 plot, was subjected to near drowning 183 times in a single month by a government "that does not torture"[2]. The hard right way from the perspective of rehabilitating our tattered democracy is to try the detainees in a federal court or in the military courts martial system. But there are substantial concerns evidence to be used against detainees would not pass constitutional standards. So be it, if we are to remain a nation of laws and not of men.
[1] Senator Majority Leader Reid in supporting the refusal to appropriate money for the move said, "he did not want terrorists suspects in US prisons." Of course that facile rational completely overlooks the fact that there are already terrorists being held in the federal prison system. Here is a list of terror prisoners currently being held from Mother Jones. Officials of the town of Hardin, Montana volunteered to hold Gitmo prisoners in their facility which is currently empty. The offer proves that Hardin really is a home of the brave.
[2] Team 44 also appears to be backtracking on the release of photos of detainee abuse. It previously reached an agreement with the ACLU in a Freedom of Information lawsuit to release the photos. But 44 has expressed concern over the effect the publicity would have on troop morale and safety.
[image: alleged female witch subjected to water torture]
[image: alleged female witch subjected to water torture]