Posted on 06/18/2008 6:21:12 AM PDT by 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
Somebody tell our soldiers not to hold on the grenade this time.
The problem with this amendment is that it makes no provisions for someone to turn state witness or a person seeking asylum. Although the FBI could easily get around this, it would have still be nice to see it included. Surprised to see Kyl voted against it.
A B52 takes off for a pre-dawn raid on a terrorist stronghold deep in a mountain pass, accompanied by a leaflet dropping plane that must leaflet the area with biodegradeable leaflets advising the people on the ground of their right to appeal the decision to bomb the base.
This just in (not an AP story): A division of soldiers believed to be closely allied with the Taliban today surrendered to US forces outside the town of Tzlitskik, saying that they preferred to be held for trial in the USA rather than face combat in this harsh, drought-ridden land. “A trial, 36 months, then maybe a few years of jail, then a halfway house in West Virginia, then I buy a house with running water with US loan, get a job at a refinery”, said Anu Bzkrighp, through an interpreter.
Mass stupidity, a condition brought about by a deluge of third partyists who hate both Republicans and Democrats ("the two party cartel") because their usual candidates are one issue candidates (like their one-issue supporters), who are unelectable in a huge, general election lie the presidency, where expertize on numerous issues is important. They believe voting for your enemy is a good way of getting mainstream voters to turn to the unelectable third party candidate, thus making him magically viable.
Their usual method of attack is the ad hominem argument, in which a few people spam any post, regardless of topic, with with a textbyte dissing the conservatives most viable candidate until, after enough time, argument, flame wars and blood pressure spikes, mainstream voters stop arguing with the third partyists.
Thus, the third partyiests claim their argument (synonymous with "issue) is right and all others are wrong. They also have the added bonus of giving the appearance of a majority opinion which does not, in fact, exist and do manage to win some hearts and minds from the "me too" crowd.
The end result will destroy this country, but most of the people doing it lean toward anarchy, so why should they care?
This is exactly the same response to terrorism that we had in the Clinton years that brought us more and more attacks.
They just don’t get it. What needs to be done is to publicly humiliate them not put them in a trial like some star where they can spew their ideology.
I don’t agree with killing them either. Not that they don’t deserve death, they do. But I don’t want them to become martyrs either.
I want them to languish and rot with no dignity. They deserve no less and no more.
This is not hate speech, but I’ll NEVER forget 9/11/01.
I truly doubt they are swaying or fooling anyone, except perhaps the mirror.
This man is dangerous as hell.
They'll never find the body. IMO ... he's under a mountain at Tora Bora rotting away.
These Liberals never cease to amaze me. What will they have us do next? Teach the Iraqi Army the Geneva Convention and our UCMJ? This is sheer stupidity. Anyone, who has ever fought with or commanded foreign troops knows how ridiculous this is.
Club Fed is about right. Like the US prosecutor is going to reveal all the Intel sources used to nab these killers?
How stupid is our Supreme Court? This is the worse decision I can recall.
Obama, Kerry, and the left are out of touch with reality. The message to our enemies is any time you are outgunned-just raise your arms and surrender. You will be back in action soon. The reality is combat troops hate fighting the same SOB twice.
Thank God Domenici is out at the end of the year. He’s a pathetic RINO! Hopefully, Steve Pearce, (a real conservative) will take his place. Unfortunately, Tom Udall a RAT will probabaly beat him.
“His chances” are unalterable by ANY facts. He will get the same % of vote no matter what comes out in the next few months because his voters simply do not care.
Now we're talking. This is the simple and correct solution.
As ugly as it is, this is war; you kill as many of the bad guys as you can, win the thing, and go home. Every prisoner we take is another opportunity for the U.S.S.A. crowd to paint us as the bad guys with the complicity of their allies in the MSM. Not to mention the fact that the entire GOP doesn't have enough balls to get a foursome off the first tee.
A caller into Rush’s show yesterday said her dad was a Green Beret and something else in military and that how military will get around this pathetically stupid decision is they will just kill terrorists and not take any prisoners! Makes life easier for all!
bookmark
Not exactly. Obama and McCain are about tied for the Independent voters. They can be swayed to peel away from Obama, ESPECIALLY if we have enough brain to slam Obama with his terrorist support and support McCain on offshore drilling.
The idiocy is that our legal system is set up on a presupposition that at the time of the commission of the alleged crime, both parties were bound by the same strictures and presumably the same culture. Applying the legal system with its assumptions, presumptions, and philosophy to parties who had no notice of such a system when the “crime” was committed is ridiculous and a good attorney will be able to argue the defendant cannot be held to U.S. legal standards and could not have the same mindset implied by our criminal laws. Hence it is a get-out-of-jail-free card for terrorists. Today that argument is being applied to immigrants already here when the crime was committed and it is working to some extent. It will work much more effectively for foreign nationals whose only presence here due to being taken prisoner.
If McCain plays it smart, he can use it against him either way. IF obama pins the blame on his "advisors" then McCain can say it's just another example of Obama being a bad judge of character in the people he relies on to advise him. He's got a solid track record of showing bad judgment now, and McCain better run with it. Obama's lack of experience, is giving McCain all the material he will need to beat him.
Things like this will make me go to the polls FOR McCain, not just against Obama.
Agreed, it SHOULD be McCain's to lose. On the other hand, far too many vote for the cool guy who makes them feel fuzzy inside... oh yes, and what they think will be "free stuff" (e.g., health care, social security, etc.).
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