Comments on: They Really Don’t Want Us Learning About the Torture Tapes, Do They?

By: TLinGA

TLinGA — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 20:17:51 +0000

Is it really down to Chimpy just pushing the Easy Button - and *Poof!* - we’re vacationing in the Tropics at Gitmo?

Hi, radio. Unfortunately, it is just that simple. The following is a portion of section 948a. of the Act (my emphasis):

(1) UNLAWFUL ENEMY COMBATANT- (A) The term `unlawful enemy combatant’ means–

`(i) a person who has engaged in hostilities or who has purposefully and materially supported hostilities against the United States or its co-belligerents who is not a lawful enemy combatant (including a person who is part of the Taliban, al Qaeda, or associated forces); or

`(ii) a person who, before, on, or after the date of the enactment of the Military Commissions Act of 2006, has been determined to be an unlawful enemy combatant by a Combatant Status Review Tribunal or another competent tribunal established under the authority of the President or the Secretary of Defense.

So to paraphrase, an “unlawful enemy combatant” is a person who is determined to be an unlawful enemy combatant, point and click. Even without a generous interpretation of the bill by the DoJ, it would not be difficult to imagine that BushCo could (and would) grant a permanent vacation to anyone that becomes an inconvenience. Am I the only person who is spooked by the use of the term “military tribunal” as one of the groups that can make this determination?

The laws are in place, all we need now is another reason for a state of emergency to be declared and “it’s done”.

By: radiofreewill

radiofreewill — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 18:41:56 +0000

Hi, TLinGA! I haven’t stayed current on the MCA and the status of Habeus – I find the Sheer Volume of BushCo Criminality makes it hard to keep up, like those plate-spinning-on-sticks acts on Ed Sullivan – at some point they can’t catch the plates, and spin them back on the sticks, as fast as they’re falling off…and on this one, I’m standing in a pile of cheap porcelin.

Is it really down to Chimpy just pushing the Easy Button – and *Poof!* – we’re vacationing in the Tropics at Gitmo?

By: bmaz

bmaz — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 15:42:12 +0000

Well, ok, but are you sure that Hillary and/or Obama really mean to end it either? They often say that, but still waffle pretty well on the margins to where I have no idea how they will really act on the war. Either one will be better than Bush, but I don’t think we know exactly how much better. That is a category that i think Bloomberg is generally in as well. I would agree that there may be a reason to place Bloomberg a little more trending to the hawkish side than the other two, but I haven’t seen, so far, a giant difference in what you could predict any of them would actually do (as opposed to campaign rhetoric). And that was my point; rightly or wrongly.

By: brendanx

brendanx — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 14:51:32 +0000

It’s the war. Bloomberg doesn’t want it stopped. How is this not clear to people?

By: TLinGA

TLinGA — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 14:43:16 +0000

Bush hasn’t quite figured out how to ‘disappear’ ordinary, innocent Civilians into Black Sites,

Yes he has. Under the Military Commissions Act, he can designate anyone, even US citizens as an “unlawful enemy combatant” on his say so alone, and drop them into a military brig rathole.

By: klynn

klynn — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 14:24:53 +0000

He would destroy public education. What he has done to NYC schools is a nightmare.

By: bmaz

bmaz — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 10:53:07 +0000

Alright, I must have suffered a synapse collapse or something. As I was dozing off to sleep, I suddenly realized I confused CS gas (bad stuff) with VX gas (really bad stuff). This is still a little reprehensible by Blackwater, but not as bad as I was thinking.

By: rxbusa

rxbusa — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 10:23:45 +0000

How about Contrarian?

By: bmaz

bmaz — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 09:47:35 +0000

Man, what a day. The wheels are coming off of the Bushmobile at all four corners.

Don’t Cry For Ashcroftina. Our former AG has been well compensated for keeping a lid on the FISA illegalities surrounding the infamous hospital scene and coming back into the fold when the news broke and the investigations started. Ashcroft was given a secret, no bid contract for 28-52 million dollars to monitor a freaking court ordered settlement agreement. Yowzer; good work if you can get it I guess….

By: bmaz

bmaz — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 09:08:54 +0000

Holy crap, in addition to not wanting us to know about the torture tapes, I’ll bet they don’t want us to know about Blackwater dropping CS nerve gas on Iraqis. Did Condi Rice and Richard Griffin authorize this too? If not, then who did? Who authorized Blackwater to even possess CS nerve gas? Who gave/sold it to them? This is absolutely stunning.