Warner Is Uncertain on Legislation for Tribunals
By KATE ZERNIKE
Published: July 1, 2006
WASHINGTON, June 30 — A leading Senate Republican said Friday that he was not sure that Congress should pass legislation to create new military tribunals for terror suspects, a stance that raised doubts about prospects for a White House plan to establish an alternative to the commissions struck down this week by the Supreme Court.
The senator, John W. Warner of Virginia, the chairman of the Armed Services Committee, said he had not yet decided what course Congress should take. But Mr. Warner, who will preside over hearings on the issue in July, said he was concerned that new tribunals, even if authorized by Congress, might not withstand judicial scrutiny.
"We're going to do this extremely carefully and accurately, or we're going to end up with a solution that once again ends up being the subject of litigation, and possibly being overturned," Mr. Warner said in an interview in his office.
The scope of the court's decision stunned the White House and Congress, forcing the House and Senate to rearrange their limited summer legislative calendar to address the issue. Lawmakers from both parties said Friday that they hoped to reach agreement by the end of summer on a new plan to bring terror suspects to trial…
Read rest here
I got this little tidbit from the NYT, I have a few thoughts on this and I just can not see where the hell the court is coming from on this.
First let’s consider the people involved in this, they do not come from one specific country, and they do not wear a uniform. They behead their prisoners, they torture, the real torture not the Abu-grab kind where they wear underwear on their heads and made to crawl around naked either. They repeatedly state that they want to kill or subjugate all non-believers. They get in an uproar over a cartoon of a rapist and murderer, but wish to silence any other form of religion. These are not some damn boy scouts we are dealing with here. All the people in Gitmo were found shooting at our troops. This makes them enemy combatants, not some peaceniks that were out in the middle of the desert having a picnic.
From the Geneva Convention and honestly ask yourself if the Terrorists are acting in accordance with this convention.
“Article 13
Prisoners of war must at all times be humanely treated. Any unlawful act or omission by the Detaining Power causing death or seriously endangering the health of a prisoner of war in its custody is prohibited, and will be regarded as a serious breach of the present Convention. In particular, no prisoner of war may be subjected to physical mutilation or to medical or scientific experiments of any kind which are not justified by the medical, dental or hospital treatment of the prisoner concerned and carried out in his interest.
Likewise, prisoners of war must at all times be protected, particularly against acts of violence or intimidation and against insults and public curiosity.
Measures of reprisal against prisoners of war are prohibited.
Article 14
Prisoners of war are entitled in all circumstances to respect for their persons and their honour. Women shall be treated with all the regard due to their sex and shall in all cases benefit by treatment as favourable as that granted to men. Prisoners of war shall retain the full civil capacity which they enjoyed at the time of their capture. The Detaining Power may not restrict the exercise, either within or without its own territory, of the rights such capacity confers except in so far as the captivity requires.”
Found here
I will admit they need to have a trial, not some civilian trial but a military trial. They were caught in time of war that means they fall under the military courts. Because they do not wear a uniform and are not from one country they do not get the protections of the Geneva Convention either. I will concede that they might be covered if they (the terrorists) followed it too, which they are not. If you think beheading prisoners of war are ok, torturing is ok for them, why do you have such a problem with a little underwear and humiliation?
I think that the court overstepped its power here; we are at war with a group of people that have declared war on us prior to 9/11. They have repeatedly attacked us throughout the last 30 years with little to no response from previous Presidents. The Kobalt Towers, ’93 WTC, Plane Hijackings, Embassy bombings, hostages taken in the 1980’s, The USS Cole, Marine barracks being blown up. All of these happened in the last 26 years, most of them happened about 1985-2000, then we had 9/11 that is when we as a nation finally woke up. Well at least for a little while, it seems that the liberals are winning this battle as more and more Americans fall back into that sense of everything is ok and will be from here on out.
Mark my word, if these killers are not brought to justice by the right courts, then the Military should stop taking prisoners. Because what is the use of letting them out because some “mamby”,” pamby” POS liberal judge lets them off. These people are not US citizens and are not afforded the protection under our constitution; they are not wearing a uniform from a country and are not protected by the Geneva Convention. The penalty for spies during war is death. Anyone caught shooting at our troops should be shot dead and not taken alive. That would solve the problem with the liberals in the country and the world.
So hopefully Warner and the rest of the Republicans will rise to the challenge and limit the damage done by the courts. So much for a Conservative court eh? Never in my life have I seen such a disregard for the People they are supposed to protect. It is this reason and this reason alone that I have a hard time every finding myself voting for another Democrat. Till they start to view this as "What is best for America" and not "What will the rest of the world think" they can not be trusted with stewardship of this country. I am ashamed to say that I voted for this part in every election uptill 2004.
