Change We Can Be…Woah…Wait…What???
By Ward Smythe | Monday, March 7th, 2011 | Policy
GOP Praises Obama’s Decision to Bring Back Military Tribunals at Guantanamo Bay
FOXNews.com
President Obama announced Monday that military trials will resume for detainees at the Guantanamo Bay prison camp, a move that won praise from Republicans, who say the president has finally “seen the light” on the value of trying such detainees at the facility.
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Ward Smythe is a pseudonymous aspiring freelance writer from Central Virginia. Until late 2007 Ward blogged at the now defunct "Ward View" and was active in Virginia and national politics. Ward's signature style of snarkery gained him a unique following that he hopes to regain here at Bearing Drift. Ward uses humor, satire and sometimes photoshop to make his point. Ward is proud to be an equal opportunity offender.
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19 Responses to "Change We Can Be…Woah…Wait…What???"
At half time in Obama’s reign, maybe he’s realizing all the promises to shut down GITMO is not realistic. To bring terrorists responsible for 9-11 to New York blocks from the site is reprehensible.
Obama and the Dems will claim that this is their brilliant new idea. On cue the media will trumpet how much smarter Obama is than Bush who wanted to try terrorists in NYC in the civilian courts. Obama also is more brilliant economically since he believes in cutting taxes while Bush and the Repubs want to raise taxes.
I propose we henceforth refer to the President as Barack W. Obama
In 2002, I waited by the shore and watched the sailors dressed in whites come home on the U.S.S. Cole after her repairs. The mastermind of the attack, Abd al Nashiri, said be the first that will stand trial, killed 17 sailors. For him to be able to live another 11 years, he has already received more mercy than he ever showed our sailors.
http://www.cargolaw.com/2000nightmare_cole.html#disaster
I don’t think the President has backed away from his commitment to close Gitmo, but clearly, promises made in a democracy depend upon approval in Congress, and for various reasons, that is not possible today. I applaud the President’s view that our judicial system is capable of meting out justice, and regret that others in Congress have let fear diminish their allegiance to our system of government.
Kathy, I’m not sure they’ve got anyone “responsible for 9/11″ at Gitmo. The hijackers of course died, Bin Laden remains on the loose (the biggest failure of botht he Bush and Obama administrations), I think we’ve killed a few other folks in the Al Queida chain of command in drone strikes.
We’ve tried and convicted other terrorists in civilian courts. I’m not sure what makes those held at Gitmo so much more dangerous than their compatriots.
Steve, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, one of the masterminds of 9-11 is at Gitmo.
Obama appreciates (when he stops laughing at) the fellow travelers who find his every action reasonable and his opponents identical actions war crimes.
This is a perfect example of the inept incompetent side of Obama as opposed to the hard leftist gangster socialist side. Let’s run the tape. After basing his 2 year campaign on the theory that GITMO was an ineradicable symbol of US war crimes, Obama signs an executive order to close it as his first action. At the signing a media acolyte acts an innocent question. “where are the prisoners going to go?” Obama freezes with a blank look on his face and sits there mute. After 10 seconds he looks around desperately for someone to help him out. Some flunky steps up and says they are “going to start developing a plan to answer that question in a year”! Obama then tries to convince his Chicago machine to take them so Sen Durbin goes out and says hey we have a place where we can send them in IL and save us Chicago gangsters from going there instead. Then Holder goes out and says we will try them in civilian courts and claimed his wife thought it was a good idea because he couldn’t get Obama on the phone in time. Then after the midterms they say they have a brilliant new plan to house them with TLC in a modern facility at a place called Gitmo. The Dems and media celebrate.
If Obama decided to invade Iran, Mike Barrett would find a way to put a positive spin on it. Democrats: always right. Republicans: always wrong. What a dismally shallow thinker.
Hey, Mikey. The President can close Gitmo by executive order. He doesn’t need approval by Congress.
Mike,
You being former Navy, I would think you would grasp that the Commander in Chief could order a brig closed.
The issue is more than the closure of Gitmo; it is how we provide justice for the victims of the attack on the U.S. Regretfully, the President has not received support in Congress for his plan. Therefore, for the present, he must keep Gitmo open.
HR- here’s some of the consistency you crave. Bush was wrong about this. And so is Obama.
SV,
I would not disagree with you on either count. What our young President is learning is that there is a difference between campaigning and governing. Bush had the same problem with all that “compassionate conservative” crap.
To me, this administration hit the rocks on the Gitmo issue when Eric Holder wanted to move the trials to New York City and then confidently assured the skeptics that none of the detainees would be acquitted. So much for fair trials. Hell, if the Attorney General is taking that position then what’s wrong with military tribunals and indefinite detention?
Hey, Mikey. Would that be the Democratic-controlled Congress that wouldn’t support the President’s plan? You do remember Speaker Nancy Pelosi don’t you?
Military tribunals has been used as far back as George Washington and is completely appropriate with most of the ones at Gitmo. Unfortunately with this President, since he never served our country in the military, he needs an education. Terrorists of 9-11, the U.S.S. Cole and others there are certainly war combatants. They attacked our country AND our military.
Kathy, of course that only describes some of the people at Gitmo. Some of them are just Afghans who shot back when we invaded their country. Not that we weren’t completely within our rights to invade when they wouldn’t hand over Bin Laden. But that doesn’t make everyone who resisted us a terrorist.
Kathy,
The US Government has maintained that the terrorists are UNLAWFUL combatants, not lawful war combatants. Otherwise, they would be subject to the protections of the Geneva Convention and other provisions of the law of land warfare.
The best analogy to the terrorists is the case of the Nazi sabotage agents captured in the US in civilian clothing during World War II. They were declared unlawful combatants and six of the eight were sentenced to death and executed. The US Supreme Court upheld their convictions by a secret military tribunal in 1942.
The difference between the Nazi saboteurs and the terrorists is that the Nazis were subjected to a speedy trial with judicial review. The terrorists, on the other hand, have been subjected to indefinite confinement without trial. As unlawful combatants and foreign nationals, they do not enjoy the protections of the Geneva Conventions or the US Constitution. But indefinite confinement without trial is an issue.
Personally, I think that both Bush and Obama screwed this one up royally. Obama, however, had all the quick and easy solutions when he was campaigning that he so far has found impossible to implement.
SV,
That is precisely why every detainee needs a trial with judicial review. Indefinite detention without a hearing is an injustice.
HisRock, I DO agree this has gone on way too long and needs be resolved post haste.
Steve, I never said everyone there is a terrorist, I just pointed out the 9-11 and U.S.S. Cole crowd that are there. I hope you will agree THEY are terrorists!
easy
pin a note on their uniforms stating “I gave information to the infidel dogs of America” and send them home — save everyone a bunch of money
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