Finally! The Bush Admin Goes for Laws that Would Make Stalin Proud!
I just knew Bush had the ol' dictator in him begging to come out. He's been dancing around the bad end of dictator for most of his reign, oops, I mean term. But as an AP report notes, Bush and the Pentagon (AKA our old buddy Rumsfeld the Terrible) have drafted a proposal to authroize the Pentagon's tribunal system after it was tossed out by the Supreme Court a few weeks back.
The draft would allow Bush & Rummy to detain all "enemy combatants" until hostilities cease. Two interesting phrases here. "enemy combatants" and "hostilities cease." I'm betting that the definition of either of those is going to be hard for anyone to pin down outside the administration. The bill's definition of enemy combantants is those who are "engaged in hostilities against the United States or its coalition partners [and] who has committed an act that violates the law of war and this statute."
You can bet Bush's best legal minds will be at work trying to apply that definition to anyone they feel like picking up at the moment. Sitting at your computer writing a blog about a US soldier who has committed an atrocity in Iraq? Careful, have you just bound yourself to those who are engaged in hostilities against the US? Walking around with a "US Out of Iraq" t-shirt? Nah, they wouldn't dare . . . would they.
Well don't worry, if by some overreach of the government this bill actually becomes a law and they pick you up for that t-shirt and anti-war petitions you've signed, you've got more fun ahead of you. Once in their grasp under this law, you'll be freed of several legal rights provided to civilian and military courts. Hearsay evidence? Guaranteed speedy trials? Defendant access to evidence? Attending your own trial? Judges allowing coerced testimony into evidence? Yup! You bet! This law will strip you of just enough rights to ensure that you get to go away until they're willing to let you out.
Not that it would ever happen here.
Or to you.
The draft would allow Bush & Rummy to detain all "enemy combatants" until hostilities cease. Two interesting phrases here. "enemy combatants" and "hostilities cease." I'm betting that the definition of either of those is going to be hard for anyone to pin down outside the administration. The bill's definition of enemy combantants is those who are "engaged in hostilities against the United States or its coalition partners [and] who has committed an act that violates the law of war and this statute."
You can bet Bush's best legal minds will be at work trying to apply that definition to anyone they feel like picking up at the moment. Sitting at your computer writing a blog about a US soldier who has committed an atrocity in Iraq? Careful, have you just bound yourself to those who are engaged in hostilities against the US? Walking around with a "US Out of Iraq" t-shirt? Nah, they wouldn't dare . . . would they.
Well don't worry, if by some overreach of the government this bill actually becomes a law and they pick you up for that t-shirt and anti-war petitions you've signed, you've got more fun ahead of you. Once in their grasp under this law, you'll be freed of several legal rights provided to civilian and military courts. Hearsay evidence? Guaranteed speedy trials? Defendant access to evidence? Attending your own trial? Judges allowing coerced testimony into evidence? Yup! You bet! This law will strip you of just enough rights to ensure that you get to go away until they're willing to let you out.
Not that it would ever happen here.
Or to you.
posted by Anonymous at 4:08 PM
1 Comments:
You know, lapopessa, when you look such possibilities in the eye, adding the details makes the scenarios very chilling. Thank goodness, you and I are not chilled. . . though I do look for the black SUV with the darkened windows sitting down the street. If they'd just come to my door, I'd invite them in for a cup of coffee.
Keep up your good work.
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