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Born at the Crest of the Empire

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Not election related, but five interesting reads....

(NYTimes) "In 2002, as evidence of prisoner mistreatment at Guantánamo Bay began to mount, Federal Bureau of Investigation agents at the base created a “war crimes file” to document accusations against American military personnel, but were eventually ordered to close down the file, a Justice Department report revealed Tuesday...."

(CNN) Gates: U.S. 'stuck' in Guantanamo: "The brutally frank answer is that we're stuck, and we're stuck in several ways...."

(Radar) "There exists a database of Americans, who, often for the slightest and most trivial reason, are considered unfriendly, and who, in a time of panic, might be incarcerated. The database can identify and locate perceived 'enemies of the state' almost instantaneously." He and other sources tell Radar that the database is sometimes referred to by the code name Main Core. One knowledgeable source claims that 8 million Americans are now listed in Main Core as potentially suspect. ...."

(NYTimes) "The military’s elite Special Operations Command has quietly stepped back from a controversial plan that gave it the authority to carry out secret counterterrorism missions on its own around the world."

And, after all the Bush/McCain, Obama, talking to Iran flap, Robert Gates slowly begins to walk his comments back.

2 Comments:

  • Why is it that it's a virtue to be "elite" if you're in a military assault group, but a deficit if want to be the "leader of the free world?" Hmmm.

    And another thought...
    Given the number of new terrorists and terrorist sympathizers we created with Abu Graib, Guantanamo, the invasion and occupation of Iraq, etc, etc... would releasing every single Gitmo detainee make a damn bit of difference in the balance of power in the War on Terror™? The ONLY reason we're "stuck" in Guantanamo is because Bush/Cheney refuse to admit it was a giant cock-up.

    And still more wondering...
    Once Bush is out of office, will Congress simply sweep all the corruption, contempt and criminality of the his administration under the rug and meekly move on? As if nothing happened and there's nothing for them to do to delouse the system? If so, it will be like pretending you don't have cancer just because you quit smoking.

    By Blogger -epm, at 8:47 AM  

  • Also we're stuck in Guantanamo because it was launched without a legal end game. The fervor for mistreatment backed by those very dubious DOJ memos, meant that those individuals woul;d never be transferrable to any modern court system, US, Europe, etc.

    To the last question, sort of. It will be a bargaining chip going back and forth. The Dems will threaten and the Republicans will threaten to shut the Congress down.

    It'll be a backroom lever on alot of the major legislation, but in the end, nothing will ever be done.

    By Blogger mikevotes, at 10:40 AM  

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