> [ BECAUSE THE NEWS MEDIA IS DEMOCRAT-DOMINATED,
> AND ON A MISSION TO DISCREDIT BUSH!!! ]
>
In the interest of fairness, I present the words of a conservative
(National Review, Wall Street Journal, served in the Reagan
Administration) who is no longer able to get his views published in
the liberal press.
November 14, 2005
Indefinite Detentions and the End of Habeas Corpus
Power Uber Alles
By PAUL CRAIG ROBERTS
Perfidy loves company. George W. Bush instructed his British puppet,
Prime Minister Tony Blair, to get moving on the detention issue so
that he, Bush, would have company when he attacked the Constitution's
guarantee of habeas corpus.
Habeas corpus prevents authorities from detaining a person
indefinitely without charges; the guarantee of habeas corpus ensures
that no one can imprison you without a trial.
The Bush administration wants the power to detain indefinitely anyone
it declares to be an enemy combatant or a terrorist without presenting
the detainee in court with charges. In England the power to arrest
people and to hold them indefinitely without charges was taken away
from kings centuries ago. Bush apparently thinks he is the
reincarnation of an absolute monarch.
The puppet Blair set to work. He soon discovered that at most he could
try to pass a law that permitted the British government to hold a
detainee for 90 days, a far cry from Bush's desire for indefinite
detention. Blair took what he called his "anti-terror" legislation to
Parliament and was handed his first-ever defeat as Prime Minister.
The British Parliament knew enough history to realize that Blair's
"anti-terror" legislation was in fact the opposite. Parliamentarians
perceived Blair's proposal as a police state trick that could be used
by an unscrupulous government to terrorize Her Majesty's subjects by
the use of imprisonment without charges. The British Parliament
refused to put up with such injustice. Eleven of Blair's former
cabinet ministers joined in voting down the legislation.
That happened on Wednesday November 9.
On Thursday November 10, the Republican controlled US Senate voted 49
to 42 to overturn the US Supreme Court's 2004 ruling that permits
Guantanamo detainees to challenge their detentions. How dare the US
Supreme Court defend the US Constitution and the civil liberties of
Americans when we have terrorists to fight, argued the Republican
senators. What are civil liberties, the Republicans asked
rhetorically, but legal tricks that allow criminals and terrorists to
escape.
The Labour Party dominated British Parliament will not allow 90 days
detention without charges, but the Republican controlled US Congress
favors indefinite detention without charges of whomever Bush wants to
detain.
Nothing more effectively undercuts the image that Bush paints of
America as the land of freedom, liberty and democracy than the
Republican Party's destruction of habeas corpus.
Habeas corpus is essential to political opposition and the rise and
maintenance of democracy. Without habeas corpus, a government can
simply detain its opponents. Nothing is more conducive to one party
rule than the suspension of habeas corpus.
It is heartbreaking to watch the Republican Party overthrow the very
foundation of democracy in the name of democracy. The name of Lindsey
O. Graham, Republican senator from South Carolina, the sponsor of this
evil legislation, will go down in infamy in the book of tyrants.
The next time Bush declares that "they (Muslims) hate us for our
freedom and democracy," someone should ask him how there can be
freedom and democracy without habeas corpus.
The Bush administration has also resurrected that second great feature
of tyranny--torture. We have the right to torture say President Bush,
Vice President Cheney, and Attorney General Gonzales.
What a hypocritical spectacle the Bush administration and the
Republican Party have made of America. They boast of "freedom and
democracy" while they destroy habeas corpus and practice torture.
Americans must recognize the Bush administration and the Republican
Party for what they are. They are tyrants. They are bringing evil to
the world and tyranny to America.
According to the Washington Post (Nov. 11), there are 750 detainees at
Guantanamo. These people have been held for 3 or 4 years. If the Bush
administration had any evidence against them, it would be a simple
matter to file charges.
But the Bush administration does not have any evidence against them.
Most of the detainees are innocent travelers and Arab businessmen who
who captured by warlords and armed gangs and sold to the Americans who
offered payments for "terrorists."
The reason so many of them have been tortured is that the Bush
administration has no evidence against them and is relying on pain and
the hopelessness of indefinite detention to induce self-incrimination.
The Bush administration is desperate to produce some "terrorists."
What has become of the American people that they permit the despicable
practices of tyrants to be practiced in their name? The Bush
administration is in violation of the US Constitution, the rule of
law, the Geneva Convention, the Nuremberg Standard, and basic
humanity. It is a gang of criminals. The Republican Party is so
terrified of losing power that it supports a tyrannical administration
that has brought shame not just to the Republican name but to all
Americans.
When a Republican next campaigns, all he can say is "vote for me
because I want power to lock you up and torture you."
Paul Craig Roberts has held a number of academic appointments and has
contributed to numerous scholarly publications. He served as Assistant
Secretary of the Treasury in the Reagan administration. His graduate
economics education was at the University of Virginia, the University
of California at Berkeley, and Oxford University. He is coauthor of
The Tyranny of Good Intentions. He can be reached at:
paulcraigroberts@yahoo.com
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