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Born at the Crest of the Empire

Wednesday, August 02, 2006

Guantanamo could be for you.

I can't imagine that this "plan" would pass with these provisions, but take a look at the authority the White House wants to claim.

A draft Bush administration plan for special military courts seeks to expand the reach and authority of such "commissions" to include trials, for the first time, of people who are not members of al-Qaeda or the Taliban and are not directly involved in acts of international terrorism, according to officials familiar with the proposal.

The plan, which would replace a military trial system ruled illegal by the Supreme Court in June, would also allow the secretary of defense to add crimes at will to those under the military court's jurisdiction. The two provisions would be likely to put more individuals than previously expected before military juries, officials and independent experts said.


The article makes the point that this proposed legislation, in effect, attempts to pass previous administration practices into law. To me, it simply details all the abrogations of rights already committed.

9 Comments:

  • No, I think we're all going to the FEMA camps being built by KBR.

    By Blogger Lew Scannon, at 7:47 PM  

  • Supposedly, there's one up in N. Texas somewhere. It's for immigrants. Riiiggghhhttt.

    By Blogger mikevotes, at 8:37 PM  

  • I can hear the international condemnation already.
    Mind you, Australia is talking about putting illegals in to floating prisons, presumably from the mothball fleet.

    By Blogger Cartledge, at 9:11 PM  

  • Okay, I don't get it. It's my impression that Australia has lots and lots of empty land, so why floating prisons?

    Mike

    By Blogger mikevotes, at 9:22 PM  

  • OMG, Cartledge - I thought that it was us POMS who came up with the idea of the 'hulks', where we put our undesirables before transporting them to Oz for the term of their natural :) Where's Charles Dickens when you need him?

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 9:51 PM  

  • Mike, if you allow them to enter land, empty or otherwise, they are subject to Australian laws regarding the treatment of asylum seekers.
    If you catch them before they are obviously in Australian territory you just bung them into an old hulk and think things over for a few years.
    It's a matter of keeping them off Australian soil mainly.
    It's bloody barbaric and makes me feel even more ashamed of my country. That is PM Howard's doing and the sooner he is gone the better.

    By Blogger Cartledge, at 11:04 PM  

  • Ah, I didn't understand.

    By Blogger mikevotes, at 7:06 AM  

  • It's a very short step from this abominable proposition to concentration camps inside the US. Did we learn nothing from WWII and Vietnam?

    Why does this current administration want endless conflict?

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 1:53 PM  

  • I don't think in the current climate this will pass in this form, but you're definitely right in that the administration is trying to lay the framework.

    Mike

    By Blogger mikevotes, at 2:33 PM  

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