Why is 44 seeking approval of indefinite detention? It boggles the mind, but the White House is floating a draft executive order allowing indefinite detention of certain unidentified detainees who "cannot be tried and are too dangerous to release" Talk about an opaque mantra. Who are these super-humans, and more importantly what have they done to make them too dangerous to be neutralized by the largest and most expensive military machine ever assembled on Earth? At least 44 owes Congress and the American people an explanation of why each of these ninety or so individuals cannot be tried or deported back to the war zones from which they were accosted. If they cannot be tried because the US does not want to reveal secret information, that reason alone seems insufficient to violate one our most fundamental concepts of human rights: the right to face accusers in a public forum. Even Jesus of Nazareth got a hearing before the Roman authorities. Tawfiq bin Attash may be one of the incommodious ninety. Accused of participating in the USS Cole attack, the three witnesses on whose testimony the government would have to rely at a hearing are not available. One escaped jail in Yemen, another was subjected to torture by the US, and a third is still in custody, but the government of Yemen will not let him testify. Too bad, Yemen! Establishing a system of dungeons in this country would be to sacrifice of every moral principle upon which it was founded. 44 has to do better, even if it means stepping on a few diplomatic toes.
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Nobody Expects the American Inquisition!
Why is 44 seeking approval of indefinite detention? It boggles the mind, but the White House is floating a draft executive order allowing indefinite detention of certain unidentified detainees who "cannot be tried and are too dangerous to release" Talk about an opaque mantra. Who are these super-humans, and more importantly what have they done to make them too dangerous to be neutralized by the largest and most expensive military machine ever assembled on Earth? At least 44 owes Congress and the American people an explanation of why each of these ninety or so individuals cannot be tried or deported back to the war zones from which they were accosted. If they cannot be tried because the US does not want to reveal secret information, that reason alone seems insufficient to violate one our most fundamental concepts of human rights: the right to face accusers in a public forum. Even Jesus of Nazareth got a hearing before the Roman authorities. Tawfiq bin Attash may be one of the incommodious ninety. Accused of participating in the USS Cole attack, the three witnesses on whose testimony the government would have to rely at a hearing are not available. One escaped jail in Yemen, another was subjected to torture by the US, and a third is still in custody, but the government of Yemen will not let him testify. Too bad, Yemen! Establishing a system of dungeons in this country would be to sacrifice of every moral principle upon which it was founded. 44 has to do better, even if it means stepping on a few diplomatic toes.