Thursday, 06 May 2004

Collateral Damage, part II: Last month the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Rasul v. Bush and al-Odah v. United States, both involving detainees at Guantanamo Bay and whether they have any legal rights whatsoever.

The Court's verdict will likely be announced in June… right in the middle of the ongoing investigation into abuses committed by U.S. soldiers at Abu Ghraib.

No matter what the verdict, it's a black eye for the Bush administration: If the Court rules against Bush (as it should), it's a political defeat; if it rules in Bush's favor, then the Court looks foolishly naïve and partisan — again — which will energize Kerry's base.

- Posted by Scott Forbes at 1:22 am. comments.

Thursday, 06 May 2004

Collateral Damage, part I:

They are torturing people. They are torturing people on Guantanamo Bay. They are subjecting them to cruel and unnecessary treatment. And people sometimes argue about the definition of torture. What they're doing clearly comes within the definition of torture under the convention, under the international convention, but it also… they are engaging in acts which amount to torture in the medieval sense of the phrase. They are engaging in good old-fashioned torture, as people would have understood it in the Dark Ages.

— Richard Bourke, lawyer for Australian Guantanamo detainee David Hicks, October 8, 2003 (emphasis mine).

Q: Well, what about the suggestion from your critics that while you won the war, the peace is being bungled?

THE PRESIDENT: They're wrong. We're making great progress in Iraq. We've got a pretty steep hill to climb. After all, one, we're facing a bunch of terrorists who can't stand freedom. These thugs were in power for awhile, and now they're not going to be in power anymore, and they don't like it. And they're willing to kill innocent people. Their terrorist activities … we'd rather fight them there than here.

And secondly, that life is pretty darn good compared to what it was under Saddam Hussein. People aren't going to be tortured; they're not going to be raped; they're not going to mutilated; there are not going to be mass graves. And plus, that the infrastructure is improving. I talked to our Secretary of Commerce today. His exact … he's in Baghdad. He said, look, he said, Mr. President, he said, you're not going to believe the world here is a lot different than some in America think it is. There's a burgeoning marketplace. He met with women business owners. I mean, there's excitement there about a free society emerging. And it's in our interests that this society be free.

Q: Sir, there are two Australian citizens being held in Guantanamo Bay.

THE PRESIDENT: Yes.

Q: What's going to happen to them? And what do you say to people in Australia who think they should be either charged or released?

THE PRESIDENT: Well, we would be glad to work with the government on the issue. And if John wants to discuss it, I'm more than happy to discuss it. We're working with a variety of countries that have got people in Guantanamo Bay. These are people picked up on the battlefield. We're trying to learn more about them to make sure we fully understand --

Q: Are they being tortured?

THE PRESIDENT: No, of course. We don't torture people in America. And people who make that claim just don't know anything about our country.

— President George W. Bush, October 18, 2003 (emphasis mine).

Sixth, early this … earlier this month, the U.S. Navy inspector general was asked to assess detainee operations at Guantanamo Bay and at Charleston Naval Station brigs. From these investigations thus far, six individuals have been identified for Article 32 criminal hearings. At least six other individuals have been given letters of reprimand. Of these six, two individuals were relieved of their responsibilities.

— Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, May 4, 2004.

- Posted by Scott Forbes at 12:57 am. comments.