Saturday, December 24, 2005
Our Dear Embattled Leader giveth and He taketh away.
The latest defense authorization bill shows just how weird this country has become, as detailed in this article from the WaPo.
But the measure awaiting President Bush's signature also would limit the access of detainees held at the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to federal courts. And it would allow the military to use confessions elicited by torture when deciding whether a detainee is an enemy combatant.So if I understand this, we can't torture the detainees any more but if we just happen to torture a story we like from them, we can use it against them in one of the mock trials we use to determine their status. And no more habeas corpus.
The legislative action affecting the treatment and legal status of detainees reflects conflicting views in Congress about the administration's handling of the terrorism fight and concerns about the U.S. image. Congress overwhelmingly supported language sponsored by Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) to prohibit cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment of prisoners after revelations of torture and abuse that embarrassed the country.
Yet, members of Congress from both parties were willing to grant the Bush administration more power over detentions at Guantanamo Bay by largely pushing the federal courts aside.
An amendment sponsored by Sens. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.), Carl M. Levin (D-Mich.) and Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) eliminates detainees' ability to challenge the condition of their detentions through habeas corpus petitions. Graham, asserting that U.S. courts have become clogged by "frivolous" claims on behalf of nearly 300 detainees in Cuba, favored denying foreign terrorism suspects the same rights in federal court that are afforded to U.S. citizens.Well, given the thorough investigations leading up to their capture and Guantanamation, why should we allow them to question their incarceration? After all, we are trying to give them all the comforts of home. I just want to know why Carl Levin was a co-sponsor on this? DC is a strange place where strange things happen but this is harder than most to understand
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