Pontificus » Afghanistan http://pontificus.com Pondering the past, present and future... Mon, 14 Jun 2010 17:00:41 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=abc en hourly 1 From Enemy Combatant to American Citizen http://pontificus.com/2009/11/from-enemy-combatant-to-american-citizen/ http://pontificus.com/2009/11/from-enemy-combatant-to-american-citizen/#comments Thu, 19 Nov 2009 16:46:01 +0000 pontificus http://pontificus.com/?p=199
Terrorists — aka Enemy Combatants — in Guantanamo Bay Prison must be humming to the tune of Happy Days.1 That’s because they’ve moved from an enemy combatant held under Geneva conventions up to apparently the same rights as those afforded to American citizens. No longer do they need to worry about a criminal tribunals like others who were similarly situated in former conflicts.2

But what does it really mean to kick out past precedent and start anew?

For starters, it will be interesting to see what evidence the government can produce that passes the various legal requirements to be admitted at trial.3

Then it will be just plain scary to find out what means and methods will be compromised by the evidence that is submitted at trial. After all, terrorists aren’t dumb. They can figure out from clues who the turncoat is, or what technology the US is using to eavesdrop on them. How many future terror plots will go undiscovered when terrorists find out exactly how they are being monitored by American intelligence?

And not to be forgotten is the potential for the entire case to be thrown out for lack of evidence, or for some technicality, or reversed on appeal. How would you feel if a self-confessed terrorist who assisted in the murder of thousands on September 11 walks out free only because he was tried in an American civil court?4

  1. Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s 1932 campaign song, among others. ↩
  2. Is America at war, or not (November 17, 2009) ↩
  3. Federal Rules of Evidence ↩
  4. Holder’s trials and errors (November 18, 2009) ↩

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]]> http://pontificus.com/2009/11/from-enemy-combatant-to-american-citizen/feed/ 0 Will Obama Turn Tail in Afganistan? http://pontificus.com/2009/11/will-obama-turn-tail-in-afganistan/ http://pontificus.com/2009/11/will-obama-turn-tail-in-afganistan/#comments Tue, 17 Nov 2009 14:37:55 +0000 pontificus http://pontificus.com/?p=122 Super64 over Mogadishu

Super64 over Mogadishu

There are some interesting similarities between Obama’s Afghanistan and Clinton’s Somalia. Both new presidents inherited the foreign situation from their predecessor. Both have (or had) advisers who would rather pay off terrorists than fight them unless it brings political benefits.

When it came to Clinton, White House control — which inevitably meant changing missions and holding back military resources1 — was a key contributor to the events that are well known from the book and movie Black Hawk Down.2 After the events Clinton quickly turned tail and ran from Somalia.

The million vote question for Obama is, will he keep our fighting men from what they need until he has his Black Hawk Down moment, too? And if he were to do so, will he also turn tail like Clinton did?

  1. In Somalia withholding armor and air support was a key issue ↩
  2. Black Hawk Down Book (Amazon), Black Hawk Down Movie ↩

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