I get to be as self-indulgent as I want without wasting anyone's time. Guilt-free solipsism -- excellent!

Looking for that particular entry? Search Using Bees....

Join the Blue Ribbon Online Free Speech Campaign!

Archives:

Email the Proprietor

 
Military May Try Terrorism Cases

Sorry, I'm going to have to quote extensively from this one.

President Bush declared an "extraordinary emergency" yesterday that empowers him to order military trials for suspected international terrorists and their collaborators, bypassing the American criminal justice system, its rules of evidence and its constitutional guarantees.

The presidential directive, signed by Bush as commander in chief, applies to non-U.S. citizens arrested in the United States or abroad. The president himself will decide which defendants will be tried by military tribunals. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld will appoint each panel and set its rules and procedures, including the level of proof needed for a conviction. There will be no judicial review.

Let me get this straight. Bush alone decides how these people get tried; Rumsfeld appoints the judges and determines what level of proof is required to convict; there is no recourse if the accused or their lawyers feel that the trial was unfair.

How is this different than Taliban justice? If the Taliban had "tried" the foreign aid workers accused of promoting Christianity by these rules, we and the rest of the civilized world would be jumping up and down.

Our justice system absolutely provides for the trial of any alleged terrorists found in this country, and the appropriate forum for terrorists captured outside the US is an international court -- especially since we have declared over and over again that this is an action undertaken by a coalition of nations. Either way, the trials need to be transparent and fair -- otherwise we cannot claim to be defenders of liberty.
| posted by Alex at 9:37 AM