As a secondary question to those who still believe that there is a massive governmental conspiracy to jail Muslims simply for their faith, what does the Military/Bush administration gain by holding innocent foreigners in relative comfort in Cuba? Those of a socialist bent might not be willing to accept such a capitalist argument, but the military is losing money that could be used on tanks, bombs and recruiting bonus’ by holding those people. It stands to reason that were these men (I don’t believe we are holding any women) as harmless as their lawyers claim, there would be no point in putting all the effort into keeping them. Until I have received a satisfactory explanation for the Bushies motivation is this cover-up, I will maintain my support of this policy, the congressionally approved military tribunals and the court’s recognition that Gitmo is well within both US and international law.
Sen. Patrick Leahy, chairman of the Judiciary Committee, doesn't buy my argument judging from the statement he issued saying:
The Military Commissions Act is a dangerous and misguided law that undercuts our freedoms and assaults our Constitution by removing vital checks and balances designed to prevent government overreaching and lawlessness.
Please note that he refers to the Constitutional freedoms for combatants who, as foreigners caught on the battlefield in another country, have no Constitutional rights. Stay tuned for this to be the next battle in the new congress.
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This sounds like a classic case of the world out-pacing "the law". Am I right in saying that the major controversy is due to the fact that we (and the international community) have no way to classify them under the Geneva Conventions, since when it was written there was no such thing as a war on terrorism? I say this should almost be an international question (i.e. Geneva II) as to their rights and classification. It's not going to go away. Even if we're the only ones involved in this, I still think this is an international issue at its core (as far as their rights/Geneva category go, not all the other stuff like alleged torture). Although we can't make everyone happy, and we need to exercise our sovereignty, allowing the U.S. court system to essentially decide their Geneva status is a slippery slope. I mean, if they had a classification, all the questions as what to do with them, their rights, etc, would mostly go away - right? We could then focus on application of the law, instead of trying to interpret it. Is this wrong or over-simplifying it?
ReplyDeleteI read that some of the GTMO prisoners released were later captured again in battle...there's 1 reason to hold them!
Actually it is almost the opposite of Geneva not being applicable. The Geneva Conventions actually mentions and excludes non-uniformed combatants. It is not a new issue in warfare for soldiers/combatants to want to go without a recognizable uniform and hide among the population, but it was determined at Geneva that this was not a legitimate method of warfare. It was recognized that this placed a dangerous incentive to mistreat the civilian population within the combat zone and thus should be heavily discouraged. They did this by labeling them as illegal combatants (akin to spies taken behind enemy lines) and withholding many of the conventions that are given to uniformed prisoners of war. We have, in fact, given them given them MORE rights than they are accorded by Geneva and are treating them with more respect than even prisoners of war have received in past conflicts. What these men’s lawyers are trying to do is give illegal combatants not just the rights of Geneva, but also American Constitutional rights of Habeas Corpus and unrestricted access to an attorney.
ReplyDeleteIn truth, their goal is not to petition for their client’s to be included in the Geneva Convention, but to remove the portion that already addresses this type of combatant and place them under US civil law, despite their lack of citizenship (or even presence in the US).
Right on...you learn something new everyday! And to think I was in the Air Force...
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