Obama advisers say bin Laden can appeal to U.S. courts: YOU HAVE TO BE KIDDING!?!

Examiner ^ | 2008-06-18 07:00:00.0 | Bill Sammon, The Examiner

[RaceBannon]

Obama advisers say bin Laden can appeal to U.S. civilian courts

Barack Obama has expressed support for the Supreme Court’s decision in favor of civilian prosecution of terrorism suspects, and his advisers said Tuesday that if Osama bin Laden were captured, he too should face civilian prosecution. – AP Bill Sammon, The Examiner 2008-06-18 07:00:00.0 Current rank: # 13 of 6,452

WASHINGTON - Barack Obama’s foreign policy advisers said Tuesday that Osama bin Laden, if captured, should be allowed to appeal his case to U.S. civilian courts, a privilege opposed by John McCain.

Responding to questions from The Examiner, Sen. John Kerry and former White House counterterrorism czar Richard Clarke said bin Laden would benefit from last week’s Supreme Court decision giving terrorism suspects habeas corpus, the right to appeal their military detention to civilian courts.

“If he were to be brought back,” Clarke said of bin Laden, “the Supreme Court ruling holds on the right of habeas corpus.”

Kerry, who applauded the Supreme Court ruling, said it will be carried out by whichever candidate wins the presidency.

“The Supreme Court of the United States has ruled that they have those rights,” he said. “If John McCain were president, he would have to give them those rights.”

Randy Scheunemann, McCain’s senior foreign policy adviser, said those rights should not be extended to bin Laden or the hundreds of terrorism suspects being held by the U.S. military at U.S. Naval Base Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

“The individuals we hold at Guantanamo are very, very dangerous people,” Scheunemann said. “To give them full access to the federal courts and the criminal justice system is fraught with danger, moving forward, and likely to make America less safe, unlike Senator Obama’s claim of supporting the decision that it made America safer.”

On Monday, Obama applauded the civilian prosecution of terrorists before the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

“In previous terrorist attacks — for example, the first attack against the World Trade Center — we were able to arrest those responsible, put them on trial,” he told ABC. “They are currently in U.S. prisons, incapacitated.”

Obama said President Bush has relied too heavily on military prosecution of terrorists, which has “given a huge boost to terrorist recruitment in countries that say, ‘Look, this is how the United States treats Muslims.’ ”

Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani said Obama wants “to take a step back to the failed policies that treated terrorism solely as a law enforcement matter, rather than a clear and present danger. Barack Obama appears to believe that terrorists should be treated like criminals — a belief that underscores his fundamental lack of judgment regarding our national security.”

The attack sounded familiar to Kerry, who was the Democratic presidential nominee four years ago.

“This is exactly what they tried to say back in 2004, and the record absolutely contradicts it,” Kerry told The Examiner. “Every Democrat voted to go to war and attack the Taliban and al Qaeda, the people who attacked us. That is not a [legalistic] approach.”

bsammon@dcexaminer.com

Examiner

[Arrowhead1952]

Ridiculous ping.

A friend of my enemy
IS NOT my friend.

[rockinqsranch]

“....when my city is nuked and I am reduced to a shadow on the wall,....”

What wall?

[kidd]

Of course Bin Laden will be killed on the battlefield rather than risk the chance that he could be released on a technicality.

Which means that we will not be allowed to interogate him properly. Which means that we will not have the chance to find out the details of his network and how it is financed.

Which means that terrorism cannot be defeated.

[caseinpoint]

You are right. When I am reduced to a stream of ash blowin’ in the wind.

[Arrowhead1952]

Obama voters have to be the most dumbest voters this country has ever produced

They are the same voters who voted for clinton, Algore, and "did you know I served in Vietnam? Skerry.

[The_Media_never_lie]

Any wonder most lawyers are democrats?

[MortMan]

I suspect, then, that Obama won’t be captured.

Neither will Osama. ;-P

These Freudian slips sometimes make WAAAAAAYYY too much sense...

[xzins]

Rotflol!

Honest. I didn’t even notice that I did it!

[Gay State Conservative]

If I was in uniform and was the one to capture Bin Laden,I'd make sure my service revolver accidentally discharged into the back of his head.....five times.

[Miss Didi]

RUSH: This guy Obama is dangerous, because he's an idiot. I mean, really. They talk about how brilliant this guy is, that he went to Harvard and so forth. I did some checking. This guy never wrote anything at Harvard Law. He just had a law review. He never wrote anything -- probably on purpose, not to create a paper trail. Number two, he might not have been capable of it, for all I know. But I mean the things this guy says, the people he hangs around with, the associates he chooses to become part of his administration. Hell, he just went to somebody out there. He just hired somebody to be one of his big advisors on something who ended up quoting Winnie the Pooh! I'm not kidding. He quoted Winnie the Pooh in terms of foreign policy, how we have to behave. I'll find this. I've got four stacks here. Ah. Here it is today. It's Richard Danzig.

"Richard Danzig, who served as Navy secretary under President Clinton is tipped to become national security advisor in an Obama White House." By the way, I thought Obama was about all this change. He's getting a bunch of retreads from the Clinton administration to run the show here, just a full bunch of retreads. There's nothing new, here. Anyway, Danzig ran the Navy for Clinton and is going to be national security advisor in Obama's White House, "told a major foreign policy conference in Washington that the future of US strategy in the war on terrorism should follow a lesson from the pages of Winnie the Pooh, which can be shortened to this: 'If it is causing you too much pain, try something else.' Mr. Danzig told the Center for New American security, quote, 'Winnie the Pooh seems to me to be a fundamental text on national security.'" Now, I got this from our old buddy Jim Geraghty at National Review Online at the Campaign Spot. Now, this sounds like something you'd see on a satire Web page. "'Winnie the Pooh seems to me to be a fundamental text on national security.' He spelled out how American troops, spies, and anti-terrorist officials could learn key lessons by understanding the desire of terrorists to emulate super heroes like Luke Skywalker and the lust for violence of violent football fans." These are the people Obama seeks to surround himself with. He's a blooming idiot, folks.

Obama Will Follow Pooh Doctrine

[caseinpoint]

I see it as an anti-military mindset. I believe they think such complex issues as terrorism and international interdiction should be the province of the legal elite (the “apostate priesthood” as one commentator has called the judiciary) rather than the “plebian” military. It is sad they should be willing to put their lives and their families’ lives at risk for elitism and intellectualism.

[SERKIT]

Here's a dose of Barry's flavor of change (predictable status quo - read 'Good 'ol Days' - for LibDems): Imagine Barry as Prez, Joe "The Plagiarist" Biden as Veep, John "F'n" Kerry as Sec of State with Joe "Sweet Tea" Wilson back in the Diplomatic Corps, Jamie "The Wall" Gorleick as AG, and Richard "Who Me?" Clarke and Valerie "007" Plame back in the intelligence community, or head of CIA, and William the Impeached and/or Hillary "PIAPS" Clinton in the SCOTUS....

After you get done puking, hold your nose and pull the handle for John McCain.

That was easy!

[unixfox]

If this doesn’t kill his chances, nothing will

You obviously don't know the average I.Q. of a Democrat.

[xkaydet65]

One of the single most important reasons for 9/11 is that starting with the '93 attack on WTC right up to the U.S.S. Cole in 2000, the Clinton admin, guys like Clarke, treated these events as if they were bank robberies. The were sending in the FBI when they should have been sending in the USMC.

To do this again is, as McCain said, "To have a 9/10 mentality will ensure a second 9/11."

[caseinpoint]

I can barely recall Phil Donohue. Is he still alive? Looney libs aren’t interested in defending the country. Most of them think the country should learn some painful lessons about the dangers of being uppity. They want cops because cops are controlled by their friends on the judiciary and the military isn’t. Therefore, anyone caught using police methods can be released if the elite so desire it. The military tends to do things differently, thank goodness.

[hdstmf]

I just read an article about several “detainees” and their lawyer. They have applied for security clearances so they can have access to US intelligence reports. Don’t assume they will be denied. Denial will result in dismissal of any charges brought against them. That alone highlights the stupidity of Supreme Court liberals.

I can tell you from personal experience that just filling out security clearance applications is an experience like no other. With that in mind, maybe we can learn more about the terrorist than they can about us. The application requires a timeline of a persons life with no gaps. All employment, associations, education, family members, foreign travel and residencies have to be listed. Multiple personal references are also required. All information has to be completely verified by FBI and other field agents.
Imagine an agent interviewing a goat-herder in some remote area of Iran. Yeah, I know it wont happen because it is just not practical no matter what some judges demand. The dumb lawyers and the blind squirrel can get lucky and the detainees can wind up free. Others who have been released have gone back to the battlefield. As we are seeing, the Haditha cases against our troops are proving it is not murder to kill the enemies in combat.

Finally, this could drag things out so long that the 200+ detainees and their lawyers could die of old age. Ditto for stupid liberal judges. Some other Freepers can take it from here. I’ve got to have some more coffee and figure out what I can sell to buy a couple of gallons of gas.

[LukeL]

He was supported by a sovereign government in 2001 and before when he carried out these attacks and therefore would fall under POW status and only be allowed a military tribunal.

[Sender]

Dead people can't appeal to anything.

Amen to that. Whether he is blown to bits by a missile from a Predator drone, or snatched in the night by black ops, bin Laden will never see a US courtroom alive. Think of months of TV coverage, with a smiling bin Laden and a multitude of CAIR lawyers, spreading deceptive propaganda and blaming the US for everything that happened. Bin Laden couldn't buy the primetime coverage for any amount of money. Islamic fascists couldn't have a better cause for protest and murder.

Nope, Binnie will be displayed in a bag. Count on it.

[caseinpoint]

Well, the reason for treating it as a civil matter is to allow civilian oversight to all aspects of the investigation. That way, good terrorists like Ayers get away while a few bad ones like Sheik Rahman get sacrificed to give the civilian system legitimacy.