Posted on 11/18/2001 1:30:37 PM PST by It'salmosttolate
Bush Insisted Only He Should Decide Who Should Stand Trial Before Military Court
NEW YORK, Nov. 18 /PRNewswire/ -- After he signed an order allowing the use of military tribunals in terrorist cases, President George W. Bush insisted he alone should decide who goes before such a military court, his aides tell Newsweek. The tribunal document gives the government the power to try, sentence -- and even execute -- suspected foreign terrorists in secrecy, under special rules that would deny them constitutional rights and allow no chance to appeal.
(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20011118/HSSA005 ) Bush's powers to form a military court came from a secret legal memorandum, which the U.S. Justice Department began drafting in the days after Sept. 11, Newsweek has learned. The memo allows Bush to invoke his broad wartime powers, since the U.S., they concluded, was in a state of "armed conflict." Bush used the memo as the legal basis for his order to bomb Afghanistan. Weeks later, the lawyers concluded that Bush would use his expanded powers to form a military court for captured terrorists. Officials envision holding the trials on aircraft carriers or desert islands, report Investigative Correspondent Michael Isikoff and Contributing Editor Stuart Taylor Jr. in the November 26 issue of Newsweek (on newsstands Monday, November 19).
The idea for a secret military tribunal was first presented by William Barr, a Justice Department lawyer -- and later attorney general -- under the first President Bush, as a way to handle the terrorists responsible for the 1988 bombing of Pan Am 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland. The idea didn't take back then. But Barr floated it to top White House officials in the days after Sept. 11 and this time he found allies, Newsweek reports. Barr's inspiration came when he walked by a plaque outside his office commemorating the trial of Nazi saboteurs captured during World War II. The men were tried and most were executed in secret by a special military tribunal.
The same American people that gave Bill Clinton such high approval ratings, even AFTER Monicagate was discovered? The same American people that made him the leader of the free world - twice? The same American people that gave him a pass on Travelgate, Chinagate, Whitewatergate, the Blood Trail, and even Pardongate? The same American people that keep re-electing Ted Kennedy, and Gerrold Nadler, and put Hillary Clinton in a Senator's seat? The same American people that vilified Judge Starr for doing his job? Yeah right. You go right ahead and trust their "common sense." I'll just trust what I can see and hear for myself, but I will hold onto hope that most of the "American People" aren't a damn bit like you.
I would sooner trust someone's character and judgment in the Pentagon than I would with any media or political hack or ACLU lawyer. The terror attacks on America are much more than crimes against persons and property. They are crimes against humanity and civilization, and must be handled in accordance, including the maintaining of national security-level secret evidence. If the America-last ideologues of the ACLU or the LP don't like that fact they can just lump it.
What charges?
Charges of stealing my thunder!
You said EXACTLY what I was going to say! ;-)
Our warriors can kill every swinging turban they come across based on their judgement and the rules of engagement but they are somehow incapable of conducting a fair military tribunal. Is that your position? A military tribunal to judge our enemies who have waged war against us is not only constitutional but its traditional.
Well, next time get more people to vote for that idiot Harry Brown and then we can have open borders. May as well, that stupid sob wouldn't travel to kill our enemies anyhoo.
This was my thought too, and, in this light, it's another sign of Bush's wisdom.
I think a more appropriate question is where do you start? But I'll answer anyway. A domestic terrorist will undoubtedly be tried in a court of law by a jury of his peers. Personally, I'd shoot the bastard on sight but president Bush won't.
The POTUS and everyone who has worn the uniform has sworn to protect this nation from its enemies both foreign and domestic. Domestic terrorists are also treasonous bastards and should be dealt with even more harshly than the Al Quaeda scum.
We are led to believe that a bunch of good guy special forces are closing in on Laden at this very moment. Have they been properly trained on making sure Laden is given his miranda rights? Is Laden to be tried by a jury of his peers? Who are Laden's peers?
Are all the squads carrying search warrants that they might need before they enter his cave?
I can't help but to suspect that all information the good guys have obtained in the war has not been gathered using proper rules of evidence.
What happens if one or more witness against Laden puts his life on the line in a foreign (Arab) country if he comes forward? What if a witness is a CIA good guy who will have his position exposed by coming forward?
It's an unfortunate thing, but otherwise civilized people try to conduct their wars in only as civilized a fashion as possible. I would say the US of late bends over backwards along those lines. Maybe what war is is an exercise in trying to maintain a semblence of civilization while killing the bad guys. It certainly isn't a time to extend U.S. Constitutional rights to people that have no claim to them. It's a time to do what is necessary to secure the safety of as many Americans and American allies as possible, probably while killing a large number of bad guys along the way.
That being the case, you have won the dipsh$t of the week award. Congrats.
The President's "Presidential Records Act" pretty much fixes THAT little inconvenience, doesn't it?
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