Screw the DEMS...the American people got screwed here....what the hell do we do with people caught on the battlefield?
Democrats want them to have citizenship and voting rights.
Give 'em a trial? How do other civilized Western countries do it? Do the British have Iraqi POWs or how did they deal with their own "terrorists"? How do the Spanish deal with the Basque ETA terrorists, etc.?
With all due respect to the esteemed members on this board, I'm not sure this decision is bad for democracy. We are America because this country stands for the rule of law, due process, and making sure that all, citizens or non-citizens alike, have certain standards of protection against government encroachment. If we have learned anything from Gitmo, it's that many of those at Gitmo were wrongly imprisoned and then released and sent home. Give trials to the inmates, figure out which are innocent, and then the ones who are guilty of crimes against the United States (non-state terrorists), imprison, and those who are guilty of just fighting against us in a legitimate war (POWs) treat according to the Geneva Conventions or similar standars applied by other civilized Western nations.
I think if we did that with the Gitmo detainees, I don't think the Left OR anyone in the world would complain about it. We would be fulfilling our commitment to our values or rule and law and due process, and we'd be sure the guys we imprison either deserve their imprisonment, or are detained as POW's until our wars in Afghanistan and Iraq are over.
There are mechanisms already in place to deal with these detainees without breaking the law or assuming extra authority. Guys, I must side with SCOTUS on this issue...as a Legal Studies major, SCOTUS is right on this.
"....what the hell do we do with people caught on the battlefield?"
Simple.....kill them!
In the ruling, it seems like they're saying that military commissions are mostly for emergency trials on the battlefield itself, and that courts martial are more appropriate for situations five years later when the immediate emergency has passed.