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Obama Set to Revive Military Commissions
Washington Post ^ | May 9, 2009 | Peter Finn

Posted on 05/09/2009 3:40:09 PM PDT by reaganaut1

The Obama administration is preparing to revive the system of military commissions established at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, under new rules that would offer terrorism suspects greater legal protections, government officials said.

The rules would block the use of evidence obtained from coercive interrogations, tighten the admissibility of hearsay testimony and allow detainees greater freedom to choose their attorneys, said the officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.

The military commissions have allowed the trial of terrorism suspects in a setting that favors the government and protects classified information, but they were sharply criticized during the administration of President George W. Bush. "By any measure, our system of trying detainees has been an enormous failure," then-candidate Barack Obama said in June 2008.

In one of its first acts, the Obama administration obtained a 120-day suspension of the military commissions; that will expire May 20. Human rights groups had interpreted the suspension as the death knell for military commissions and expected the transfer of cases to military courts martial or federal courts.

Officials said yesterday that the Obama administration will seek a 90-day extension of the suspension as early as next week. It would subsequently restart the commissions on American soil, probably at military bases, according to a lawyer briefed on the plan.

"This is an extraordinary development, and it's going to tarnish the image of American justice again," said Tom Parker, a counterterrorism specialist at Amnesty International.

(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; Front Page News; News/Current Events; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: 111th; agenda; bho44; bhodod; bhogwot; brokenpromises; detainees; gitmo; guantanamo; militarycommissions; wot
Andrew McCarthy at National Review Online calls this Obama's Commission Farce .
1 posted on 05/09/2009 3:40:09 PM PDT by reaganaut1
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To: reaganaut1
We are so screwed. In the future, take no prisoners.
2 posted on 05/09/2009 3:46:00 PM PDT by BulletBobCo
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To: reaganaut1

Are they still allowed to use the “comfy pillow” and extra Malomars during interrogations, or has that been outlawed?


3 posted on 05/09/2009 3:47:22 PM PDT by Mad_Tom_Rackham (What did Obama's Teleprompter know, and when did it know it...)
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To: BulletBobCo

and go to jail.....


4 posted on 05/09/2009 3:47:30 PM PDT by MrLee (Sha'alu Shalom Yerushalyim!! God bless Eretz Israel.)
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To: BulletBobCo
From McCarthy: Well guess what? The Obama commissions will be, in every material way, exactly the same as the Bush Commissions: they will allow the trial of terrorism suspects in a setting that favors the government and protects classified information, and they will be criticized — perhaps not quite as sharply, but sharply — by the same hard Lefties that Obama and Holder were courting during the campaign.
5 posted on 05/09/2009 3:48:34 PM PDT by kabar
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To: MrLee

Use the three S method.


6 posted on 05/09/2009 3:48:36 PM PDT by BulletBobCo
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To: reaganaut1

There is an ulterior motive! If he gets rid of the military commissions he can’t use them against us in the future!


7 posted on 05/09/2009 3:50:41 PM PDT by Red_Devil 232 (VietVet - USMC All Ready On The Right? All Ready On The Left? All Ready On The Firing Line!)
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To: reaganaut1
Tom Parker, a counterterrorism specialist at Amnesty International.

Can't wait till they produce a TV show about his adventures.

8 posted on 05/09/2009 3:52:34 PM PDT by rabidralph
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To: reaganaut1

I saw “Skeletor” on Fox morning show...Alan Combs...he was “Assuming” all the Gitmo guys were Innocent etc.....

I had to stop listening to the ^%$#@**&hole....

It amazes me that the United States Military operating in a War zone, has some people who question about Whom the US Military decides to Capture and turn in as a Combatant against the USA.

Lets “Assume” that those captured on the Battlfield are “Judged” by the United States Military as Dangerous Mo Fo’s and deserve to be imprisoned as a direct results of their mere appearance on the Battlefield in opposition to OUR TROOPS. Lets assume the US Army, Marines, are “Just” and “Correct” in their decision to imprison the Terrorist they alone Judged should be Imprisoned.

Alan Combs talking on the FOX AM show could not be further from knowing what the %$#k he is talking about, and cannot be consider an Informed source to even be part of a Gitmo Prisoner Conversation.

I put my faith in the US Military.....prove me wrong, but don’t talk un-informed Bull shit to me about that which you don’t have a Clue.


9 posted on 05/09/2009 3:52:54 PM PDT by 4Speed
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To: Red_Devil 232
"If he gets rid of the military commissions he can’t use them against us in the future!"

Precisely. I see it coming.

And I doubt that we will get all the legal benefits he is bestowing on the Jihadis.

10 posted on 05/09/2009 3:59:50 PM PDT by ChicagahAl (Don't blame me. I voted for Sarah.)
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To: Red_Devil 232

Thanks. How will I sleep tonight?


11 posted on 05/09/2009 4:01:36 PM PDT by 1010RD (First Do No Harm)
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To: 1010RD

Beer!


12 posted on 05/09/2009 4:04:17 PM PDT by Red_Devil 232 (VietVet - USMC All Ready On The Right? All Ready On The Left? All Ready On The Firing Line!)
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To: Red_Devil 232

I’ll have to use pills. You can soothe your conscience as you see fit, but you better make church tomorrow!


13 posted on 05/09/2009 4:06:52 PM PDT by 1010RD (First Do No Harm)
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To: All

well in a way this is good news, we dont get to say much nice about him lol. Keeping the tribunals is a good thing, but I dont think bringing them on american soil and getting them lawyered up is. and keep the bush era policy of not listing the polar as endangered that was good too. now if we can just get his supporters pissed off about keeping bush-era policies it would be great.


14 posted on 05/09/2009 4:09:26 PM PDT by 09Patriot (I am a MILITANT Conservative, compassionate conservatism got us NOWHERE)
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To: 09Patriot

The problem with these military commissions is that the detainees lawyers are sure to appeal them in civilian court and get the charges overturned. This way, Obama can say he was tough on terrorism and still get the support of the leftists.


15 posted on 05/09/2009 5:44:59 PM PDT by Thunder90
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To: BulletBobCo

“In the future, take no prisoners.”

That’s the spirit! Shoot them!


16 posted on 05/09/2009 6:11:32 PM PDT by Niuhuru
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To: reaganaut1
The Obama administration is preparing to revive the system of military commissions

The bastards just don't realize how pissed off we are becoming, do they?

17 posted on 05/09/2009 6:16:56 PM PDT by Pistolshot (The Soap-box, The Ballot-box, The Jury-box, And The Cartridge-Box ...we are past 2 of them.)
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To: reaganaut1

“This is an extraordinary development, and it’s going to tarnish the image of American justice again,” said Tom Parker, a counterterrorism specialist at Amnesty International.”

There’s an oxymoron for you.


18 posted on 05/09/2009 6:35:37 PM PDT by headstamp 2 (Spay or Neuter your liberal today!)
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To: reaganaut1

“It would subsequently restart the commissions on American soil, probably at military bases, according to a lawyer briefed on the plan.”

This is an end run around the objections to having the terrorists released here. Once they are acquitted, as you KNOW they will be, they will be released here. The others will by default be detained here and become a cause celeb for looney activists.


19 posted on 05/09/2009 6:38:43 PM PDT by headstamp 2 (Spay or Neuter your liberal today!)
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To: kabar
This is GREEEEAT! Obama is such an idiot. He ordered the closing of Gitmo and the Democrats in congress won't even fund it!!! I saw Holder being questioned by a Republican about Rendition and his part in it, it was great to see Holder squirm LOL. The $300,000 dollar fly over New York City and all we got was a lousy picture. Obama really is a jerk and he has no clue how stupid he is...
20 posted on 05/09/2009 6:58:45 PM PDT by carcraft (Pray for our Country)
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