Double Binds
February 10, 2009 by Gee Carol
The question of what to do about the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay has been on the minds of both the previous and current administrations. Shortly after being sworn in President Obama instructed military prosecutors to ask that the proceedings be delayed in order that a full review could take place. This from TPM Muckraker, (2/6/09) explains the most recent events: “Thanks To Obama’s Order, Military Drops Charges In Gitmo Trial.” It settles the question of whether military tribunals will be the justice method of the Obama administration. At the same time the 9/11 families were not happy about it when they recently met with the President. To quote:
All but one judge complied with the prosecutors’ requests. That one, Army Colonel Jame Pohl, declined to do so.But now, the Associated Press reports, Susan Crawford, the top legal authority for Guantanamo’s proceedings, has decided to drop the charges in the case over which Pohl is presiding, thereby bringing the case into compliance with Obama’s order.
Shedding additional light on these dilemmas for the administration, are columns at Salon.com, by Glenn Greenwald. In his 2/6/09 piece, “Counter-terrorism logic” (Update section), Glenn debunks the claims that 61 released detainees have returned to the battlefield. In an earlier (2/4/09) column entitled “Various Items,” several pertain to today’s subject here: Item 3 — regarding the Obama administration’s position on rendition of detainees, Item 5 — regarding the US Government erecting a wall of secrecy around what it has done to torture detainees, and demands that “other countries [the UK] do the same, upon threat of being punished,” and Item 6 regarding an ACLU letter to Secretary of State Clinton regarding the US/UK matter in Item 5 above. (See ACLU Blog for more on the Gitmo Truth Out)
Another illustration of the difficulty in which the administration finds itself is the quandry of a public opposition to torture and secret detentions, colliding with a legal requirement to defend former government employees under certain conditions. John Yoo, Donald Rumsfeld, Paul Wolfowitz and John Ascroft will get help in the Jose Padilla lawsuits over his alleged torture. The story is from Wired – Threat level (2/4/09): “Obama: Reject Torture, defend Torturers.” To quote:
The new U.S. president has renounced those Bush administration practices, but government lawyers continue to defend the previous administration’s top officials accused of authorizing and carrying out those policies.
. . . Chief among those enjoying a taxpayer-funded defense is John Yoo . . . As a Bush administration lawyer, Yoo wrote the so-called torture memos the previous administration invoked to rationalize torture of enemy combatants.
. . . in federal court in San Francisco, in a lawsuit (.pdf) brought by Jose Padilla. The one-time alleged “dirty bomber,” Padilla claims Yoo’s internal legal opinions paved the way for his harsh interrogation while he was secretly held without charges at a Navy brig in South Carolina.
Government lawyers are also defending former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, former Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz, former Attorney General John Ashcroft and other Bush administration officials in a second lawsuit by Padilla accusing (.pdf) them of violating his constitutional rights.
Double binds, where we are damned if we do and damned if we don’t, appear to be a fact of life for the new administration. That is the inevitable outcome of the Bush administration’s failure to adhere to the rule of law. The future will not be easy, but the Constitution stands as bedrock to help solve these double-bound legal dilemmas.
See also a collaborative post today about this same subject called, “Bush Leftovers For Sunday Dinner” at my brand new blog, Behind the Links.
(Cross-posted at The Reaction.)
My “creativity and dreaming” post today is at Making Good Mondays.
Technorati tags: news news and politics rule of law national security guantanamo
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Those wanting to prosecute the Bush gang have definitely underestimated the public’s Bush fatigue. Matbe some good would come out of it, but personally, I think I would prefer a waterboarding to another Watergate hearing.
The problem with Gitmo, and the reason they want the kangaroo (Military court) instead of the regular court system has always been this issue:
If they had standard trials, the issues of torture & abuse would see the light of day.
This is why they have bent over backwards to have a fake/pretend military tribunal- in that case, they may as well skip the trials entirely- the outcome is already determined.
They are hellbent on a staged court because innocent people who have been held and abused for years could finally tell the truth. The criminals in their coats & ties- all of Bushs’ men at the top level would have to answer to violations of international, domestic, and the Geneva Conventions treaty.
Which is why I WANT real trials in real court.
It would be a proud piece of U.S. history, the day justice was served.
As for Gitmo itself, in a perfect world, all the President;s men would spend the rest of their lives locked up there, doing prison time for war crimes, and crimes against humanity.
But I’ll admit when it is Hurricane season, I hope they evacuate the facility & Mother Nature wipes it off the planet. I consider Gitmo to be America’s Gulog.
Fran´s last blog post..TAX FORM WE NEED
Robb, I can understand your willingness to put Bush out of your mind. Every time I see our new President I am grateful for the passage of time.
Fran, I have to say that I think our nation will be poorer if some kind of justice is not done to at least a few of the offender leaders. Hurricane season will soon be upon us.
Thanks to both of you for your insightful comments.
Carol Gee´s last blog post..The road to economic recovery will not be easy.
Did you catch that now Castro wants us off Cuba?
Cuban leader Fidel Castro praised Obama after his election as “honest” and “noble” but on January 29 he demanded that Obama return Guantánamo to Cuba “without conditions”. Castro said, “Maintaining a military base in Cuba against the will of the people violates the most elemental principles of international law….. Not respecting Cuba’s will is an arrogant act and an abuse of immense power against a little country.”
Looks like Obama opened a can of worms! I know the lease is open ended and could never really understand why. The lease has no stipulated ending date. It will end under any of the following conditions: The US fails to pay the lease, the US abandons the base or finally, when they both agree to end the agreement.
I agree, it makes no sense whatsoever to keep a base where you are not wanted. Seems like a good way to have sanctions lifted and gain favors from Obama.
I do think Guantanamo is strategically important and that would be all that wanting to keep it open would indicate at least in my limited knowledge!
Jim´s last blog post..Obama wants Afghanistan reassessment but he is already committed! Doesn’t he get it? We’re screwed!
Jim.
Thanks for this very useful comment. I knew very little about any of the info you provided. It does, indeed look like an opportunity wrapped in a dilemma.
CarolGee´s last blog post..The road to economic recovery will not be easy.