Libertarian ping.To be added or removed from my ping list freepmail me or post a message here
Posted on 08/07/2006 8:53:06 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
HONOLULU
John Yoo, a former Justice Department lawyer who helped draft memos on treatment of terrorist prisoners, said Monday that in wartime, the question is not whether to give up civil liberties but "how much is enough."
Yoo, now a law professor at the University of California, Berkeley, drew attention at an American Bar Association convention panel on whether tactics such as the detention of suspected terrorists at Guantanamo Bay and the surveillance of phone calls may erode liberties.
Unlike past conflicts, the United States isn't at war with any traditional nation state, Yoo said, but is at war with the al-Qaida terrorist network, and officials are trying to adapt the rules of war to these new circumstances.
War, for example, involves targeted killings of the enemy and detentions of enemy troops until the end of a conflict, he said.
"I don't think it's a question of ... are we going to have to restrict civil liberties. It's a question of how much is enough," Yoo said.
Both World War II, with its detention of Japanese-American citizens, and the Civil War, with its mass military detentions, put serious restrictions on civil liberties that were much greater than what is happening today, Yoo said.
At Justice, Yoo helped write internal memos in 2002 designed to give the federal government greater leeway to aggressively question terror suspects.
Yoo noted in an interview after the panel that of the roughly 1 million prisoners of war held in World War II, none received a hearing or were charged with crimes, and some where held for five years.
"We never have hearings for prisoners of war, never have had them until this last year. It's just the way the rules of war have always been," he said.
Superimposing the rules of criminal law on war, such as requiring that a prisoner be read his Miranda rights, may be unwise, Yoo said.
"In wartime when you're detained, you're not being punished for anything. You're being held so you can't keep fighting," he said.
However, panel member Neal Sonnett, a former prosecutor living in Miami, said calling the struggle against terrorism a "war" carries unnerving implications, including the indefinite duration of the conflict and increased presidential authority.
"If the president has greater powers in the time of a war that the president himself has told us is never going to end, I begin to worry about what's going to happen to civil liberties and constitutional rights in this country," said Sonnett, who is also chairman of the ABA's task force on enemy combatants.
These people are all nuts.
Thought as a libertarian you might be interested in this one.
They are all looking for additional clients and more billable hours.
I'm thinking liberals are pretty much going to just say
"F" Yoo on his civil liberty beliefs!
(Someone had to say it!) ;-)
>I am more than willing to give up some of my liberties to protect my fellow Americans.<
Sounds very noble, but think about this: Why are little old ladies detained and searched extensively at airports when anyone looking remotely MiddleEastern is passed through (We cannot have racial profiling!) Why have our borders been wide open since 9/11/01 to illegal invaders, (including known criminals, terrorists and other spies) who are given free health care, rent subsidies, and food stamps, when people wanting to immigrate here legally are put through all kinds of rules and regs in order to get in? Why has Dubai been allowed to run our ports, and the companies that make parts for our weaponry? Why has the sovereignty of our country been undermined completely by the signed, sealed and delivered North American Union with Mexico and Canada since the last Federal election?
Did Congress and the Senate pass this? Why is the President allowed to Federalize the National Guard? Did he draw this by the Congress and the Senate? And, what other liberties are you willing to give up which may never again be restored to your fellow Americans?
I'm just curious.
I remember when President Clinton said that Americans had "too many personal freedoms" and we should give up some of our freedoms for the common good (in the context of more gun control). The leftist pundits all thought that was wonderful.
Libertarian ping.To be added or removed from my ping list freepmail me or post a message here
Yes i am thank you for the ping
People gave up rights during World War II and Hitler didn't win...
But big government sure as hell did.
This is an honest answer: I'm not too worried about loss of liberties and inconvenience. We have not yet learned how to deal with these new threats, but I am confident that we will. It's what Americans do. On the other hand, I don't encourage folks to stop complaining, as that's also what Americans do to spur action...
Americans are more clever than we give outselves credit for...we're going to figure this thing out...
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