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Tag Archives: Guantanamo Bay

White House Set to “Overrule” Justice Department on Civilian Trials for Gitmo Detainees

25 Thursday Mar 2010

Posted by Craig in George W. Bush, Justice Department, Obama, Politics, terrorism, war on terror

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Attorney General Eric Holder, civilian courts, detainees, Guantanamo Bay, Justice Department, Michael Isikoff, military tribunals, Newsweek

One “change” I had hoped to see on January 20, 2009 was the end of the politicization of the Justice Department. Judging from this report at Newsweek by Michael Isikoff that isn’t going to be the case, as the Obama administration is set to “overrule” and “overturn” the decision of Attorney General Eric Holder to try detainees at Guantanamo Bay in civilian courts rather than military tribunals. The reason being political pressure from New York City mayor Bloomberg and Republicans in Congress:

“The White House may yet be several weeks away from announcing whether it plans to overrule Attorney General Eric Holder and order that the 9/11 conspirators be tried before military commissions rather than in civilian courts. But it’s not hard to figure out which way the wind is blowing.

…The embrace of military tribunals follows months of controversy over Holder’s decision to try Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and other 9/11 conspirators in federal court in New York–a move that generated opposition from New York political figures such as Mayor Michael Bloomberg, and Republicans in Congress. Administration officials have acknowledged it was looking increasingly likely that Congress would block any funding for civilian trials of the 9/11 conspirators.”

…”All the indications we’ve been given are to get ready for a lot of activity in Guanantamo,” said a military prosecutor, who asked not to be identified talking about upcoming cases. “It’s full steam ahead.”

…the big decision everyone is waiting for is whether President Obama, as is increasingly expected inside the Beltway, will overturn Holder’s decision and return Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four other 9/11 co-conspirators to the military commissions.

Remember the days of an independent Department of Justice? When who was prosecuted and how was done at the discretion of the Attorney General? When an Attorney General would resign rather than succumb to political pressure from the White House?

Those days are apparently gone. No matter who occupies the Oval Office.

President Obama, Have You No Principles?

06 Saturday Mar 2010

Posted by Craig in Bill of Rights, Constitution, Justice Department, Obama, Politics, war on terror

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Attorney General Eric Holder, civilian trials, constitutional rights, Elliot Richardson, Guantanamo Bay, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Nobel Prize speech, President Obama, Richard Nixon, rule of law, Saturday Night Massacre, Watergate

An open letter to President Obama and Attorney General Holder:

President Obama, have you no principles sir? Is there nothing for which you are willing to take an unwavering stand? Nothing which you are unwilling to sacrifice on the altar of political expediency? Nothing that will deter your quest for the Holy Grail of bi-partisanship? Nothing that is done without a moistened finger in the wind gauging current public opinion? If this story from the Washington Post about the decision not to try Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and the other 9/11 co-conspirators in civilian court is true, sadly the answers to all of the above questions appear to be no, nothing.

Do you remember your Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech, sir? Let me refresh your memory (emphasis added):

“We lose ourselves when we compromise the very ideals that we fight to defend. And we honor — we honor those ideals by upholding them not when it’s easy, but when it is hard.”

This is one of those times, sir, one of those times when it is hard. This is one of those times when ones true character is tested. When the right thing to do and the popular thing to do are not one and the same, as history has shown us they seldom are.

Our constitutional rights and protections–in which our system of justice is anchored–and the rule of law are not, and should never be, subject to political compromise and deal-making. The Fifth and Sixth Amendments are not bargaining chips to be dealt away in the pursuit of Republican support for the closing of the prison at Guantanamo Bay.

Furthermore, who is prosecuted and how they are prosecuted is not the discretion of the president of the United States, and most assuredly not that of his chief of staff. That duty falls to the man whom you nominated and whom the Senate confirmed as Attorney General, Eric Holder. Once upon a time we had a Justice Department independent from political influence. That line of demarcation was blurred, if not completely erased, by the previous administration. You were elected on the promise of restoring that independence, but apparently that was only campaign rhetoric.

Attorney General Holder, you have a duty here too, sir. By virtue of the position which you hold, you are chief law enforcement official in this country. If you believe strongly that KSM and the others should be tried according to Article III, and if you want to be seen as more than an attorney-on-retainer who does the bidding of the White House, you have the obligation to tell the president to either make this decision yours and your alone, based solely on legal grounds, or resign your office.

One of your predecessors in the office of Attorney General faced a similar situation. He was ordered by the president to do something which went against his principles and was in violation of his duties as AG. Rather than be seen as a puppet of that administration, he resigned on the spot, as did his deputy when given the same order. His name was Elliot Richardson and the president was Richard Nixon, in the constitutional crisis now known as the infamous “Saturday Night Massacre” of the Watergate era.

This is no less a constitutional matter, sir. Your obligation is no less than was Mr. Richardson’s.

Are We No More The Home of the Brave?

18 Thursday Feb 2010

Posted by Craig in Justice Department, Obama, Politics, terrorism, war on terror

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civilian trials, Glenn Greenwald, Guantanamo Bay, Indonesia, Lindsey Graham, London, Madrid, Mumbai, Obama administration, Salon, Sydney, terrorists

Glenn Greenwald has an interesting contrast in Tuesday’s Salon. How the rest of the world deals with accused terrorists as compared with the United States. A few cases in point:

May 12, 2003:
“DENPASAR, Indonesia — The first suspect charged with the October 12 [2002] Bali bombings, which killed over 200 people, has gone on trial in an Indonesian court.”

February 15, 2007:
“The trial of 29 people accused of involvement in train bombings that killed 191 people in March 2004 has opened in the Spanish capital, Madrid.”

April 11, 2008:
“LONDON — Three British Muslims accused of helping the suicide bombers who carried out the attacks on London’s transportation system in July 2005 went on trial on Thursday, in the first case against people accused of helping plan the attacks.”

July 21, 2009:
“The sole surviving gunman from last year’s Mumbai attacks, a Pakistani national, on Monday pleaded guilty at his trial, admitting for the first time his part in the atrocity that killed 166 people.”

Monday:
“SYDNEY – Five Muslims were sentenced Monday to 23 to 28 years in prison in Australia for stockpiling explosive chemicals and firearms for terrorist attacks on unspecified targets…The men, aged 25 to 44, were found guilty last October on charges linked to preparing a terrorist act between July 2004 and November 2005.”

In contrast, January 22, 2010:
“WASHINGTON — The Obama administration has decided to continue to imprison without trials nearly 50 detainees at the Guantanamo Bay military prison in Cuba because a high-level task force has concluded that they are too difficult to prosecute but too dangerous to release, an administration official said on Thursday.”

And February 1, 2010:
“WASHINGTON — Sen. Lindsey Graham plans to introduce a bipartisan bill Tuesday to block funding for civilian trials of five alleged plotters of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks who are now being held at the U.S. military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Graham, a South Carolina Republican and a military lawyer, said that eight other GOP senators had signed onto his legislation, along with Democrats Jim Webb of Virginia and Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas, and independent Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut.”

Home of the brave?

The Constitutional Scholar Considers Indefinite Detention Law

16 Tuesday Feb 2010

Posted by Craig in Bill of Rights, Congress, Obama, Politics, war on terror

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Guantanamo Bay, indefinite detention, Lindsey Graham, President Obama, White House

The Constitutional Scholar-In-Chief is ready to deal away Fifth and Sixth Amendment protections in exchange for Lindsey Graham’s vote to close Gitmo. Well, not actually close it, just re-locate it to Illinois (emphasis mine):

“The White House is considering endorsing a law that would allow the indefinite detention of some alleged terrorists without trial as part of efforts to break a logjam with Congress over President Barack Obama’s plans to close the Guantanamo Bay prison, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said Monday.

“I’m sure that that’s what Sen. Graham thinks [but] I don’t have any reason to think the administration has changed its view on this…said Elisa Massimino of Human Rights First. “In both private conversations and in public, the attorney general and other people in the administration said they’re committed to driving the people detained without charge to zero. I think that would be inconsistent with a pledge to do that.”

…speaking at a news conference in Greenville, S.C. Monday, Graham said the White House now seems open to a new law to lay out the standards for open-ended imprisonment of those alleged to be members of or fighters for Al Qaeda or the Taliban.

…While Graham has long favored closing Guantanamo, he said Monday that his support for doing so is contingent on a new law to govern the detention of those the government wants to keep in custody outside the criminal justice system. He also said that, with such a statute in place, he could support Obama’s plan to convert a state prison in Illinois to a federal facility for former Guantanamo inmates.

…Some human rights advocates said Monday that they didn’t doubt Graham had discussed a detention statute with the White House, but were skeptical that officials there are actively considering it.

Right. It would be the height of inconsistency for this administration to backtrack on a pledge or a campaign promise. There’s nothing in the past year to make anyone think they might “change” their views or principles, as if they had any, in the face of the slightest amount of pressure, or in pursuit of another sellout compromise. Perish the thought.

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