TelePolis writes again about the “enemy combatants”. It seems that the US is now allowing evidence obtained under torture. Welcome to the dark ages!
Die Bush-Regierung hält weiter an ihrer Sonderbehandlung der “feindlichen Kämpfer” fest, die ohne Rechtsansprüche auf unbegrenzte Zeit festegehalten werden dürfen. In einer Anhörung vor einem Bezirksgericht über die Militärgerichte, die nach einem Urteil des Obersten Gerichtshofs eingerichtet wurde, um die Haftgründe der Gefangenen von Guantanamo zu überprüfen, erklärte der Staatsanwalt, dass hier auch unter Folter erpresste Geständnisse verwertet werden dürften. ¹
I’m certainly not going anywhere the US these days! Further down it talks about the judge asking whether the US would treat an old lady as an “enemy combatant” if she unknowingly donated money to a charity that supports Al-Qaida, the response was... YES!
Here’s the quote from the Internation Herald Tribune:
Could the president of the United States imprison “a little old lady from Switzerland” as an enemy combatant if she donated to a charity not knowing that her money was eventually used to finance the activities of Al Qaeda terrorists?
Possibly, a government lawyer replied on Wednesday to this hypothetical case posed by a federal judge as they wrangled over the limits of a president’s powers to detain people he deems enemy combatants and whether the administration has satisfied the requirements set out in a June Supreme Court decision to provide a justification for their detention acceptable to federal courts. ²
This is so unbelievable I am beyond ranting.
Oh, and they can be arrested anywhere (the war is global), and as long as the war lasts (at the discretion of the president). Beyond everything else I think this goes to show that the president has too much power.
Telepolis also writes about the meeting of the Christian Democrats in Germany and how they try to coopt the term “patriotism” and “neo patriotism” (which Telepolis calls “Patriotism-light”). Telepolis goes on to show that within Patriotism lies the seed for war, using patriotism as a value opens the door to all sorts of stupidity such as claiming (aimed at the chancelor) that people loosing jobs is “unpatriotic”, etc. Very sad. And best of all, the quote that Germany has much to learn from the USA in terms of patriotism. ³
That’s what disturbs me the most about the USA. 1. The incredible difference between what I believed when I was younger and what I am seeing to day, and 2. the incredible hypocrisy of Europeans when they reject US policy and vote for politicians that would love nothing better than do the same thing here – be it the invasion of Iraq, neo-liberalism, the clash of civilizations meme, or the dismantling of public education. >{
Finishing touches... Just learnt about the Secret Service visiting LiveJournal User...
Secret Service visiting LiveJournal User
#USA