[Cincinatus' Wife]

Prisoners vow `to kill an American' at U.S. base

[Chemist_Geek]

Marine Brig. Gen. Michael Lehnert, commander of the prison project.

I know it was coincidence, but I found that phrasing very amusing...

Now, as to the Bad Guys' status, I don't think that they are POWs and should NOT be treated as such. If their "army" hadn't deliberately attacked civilians in New York on 11 September 2001, then I might think they were entitled to POW status.

Maybe after the Afghanistan government gets itself set up, we can repatriate these Bad Guys there for Afghani justice?

[doosee]

Human Rights Watch, meanwhile, issued a statement of concern that their open-air, cage-like cells and other details of their incarceration are not in keeping with international norms.

What, they should have air conditioned cells, cable TV, and workout centers. Oops, that's a typical US Prison.

[angkor]

Singapore tosses its terrorists into jail for two years under sovereign detention laws. No one says a word.

The U.S. does the same and is visited with microscopic critiques of human rights violations.

The difference? Singapore has already proven that it will not be cowed by international pressures.

Also, these Guatanamo spokepersons should stop talking to the press. Just gives them more ammo.

[cliff630]

Perhaps I'm missing something here. These 'detainees'
aren't POW's, they are criminals guilty of murder; or
at least conspiracy to commit murder.

If they were truly POW's they wouldn't/couldn't be charged
with murder even though they had killed the enemy in battle.

[Congressman Billybob]

By saying that the status of the prisoners at Gitmo are "in limbo," this article is repeating the legal lie put out yesterday by Amnesty International and days before by the International Red Cross. There is clear law about the status of these prisoners, and the government's use of the phrase "illegal detainees" reveals that status.

There is a 20-page, unanimous Supreme Court decision, written in plain English, that makes crystal clear the status of these prisoners and the trials that await them.

Ex Parte Quirin, 1942, upheld the trial of eight German saboteurs who entered Florida and Long Island from German submarines with money, maps, and plans for bombing. One of them turned state's evidence, so the plan unraveled before any targets were hit. All eight were convicted; six were executed.

The Baltimore Sun ran on 16 December a politically biased and factually false article on this case. The Washington Post ran on 15 January an article which was more accurate about the facts of the case, but still lied about its legal meaning. Neither article quoted from the case. And the article on this thread is a step backwards, in not even mentioning the case.

The Geneva Convention has zero application to these prisoners. The Convention states four conditions for it to apply. The Al Qaeda prisoners fail all four of thoese conditions.

I urge all FReepers to use the link provided, and actually read the Quirin case, right now. If you do, you will know more about the status of these prisoners and the trials they will shortly face, than 99.44% of the American press who are daily spewing false reports in abject ignorance of the situation. Because Quirin is written in plain English, I recommend it to laymen as well as lawyers. It is very "accessible."

Click here, go to "Court Decisions," go to "Supreme Court," search for "Quirin." There is a one-page decision issued as an Emergency Order while the trial was going on. Then there is a syllabus on the case, then there is the 20-page Opinion issued later as the reasons for the decision.

As FReepers well know, the best way to combat the bias of the media is to get the facts, and then smack the media upside the head with the facts. The unanimous Quirin case, and the "law of war" which it thoroughly discusses, are the central facts on this subject.

I urge everyone who sees this post to take time to click up and read the Quirin case, and then spread the word. As Thomas Jefferson wrote, "in the markketplace of ideas, truth must be free to combat falsehood." There are a lot of falsehoods out there on this subject. Please join the battle.

Congressman Billybob

Click and listen to Phil and Billybob in the morning. As this is posted, Billybob's segment is over, but Phil is still on the air.