Bush's Speech
I was out much of yesterday and only heard part of the President's speech. After my meeting this morning I'll download the full text and peruse it. Meanwhile my first impressions based on what I heard:
Bush admitted the secret CIA prisons, or gulags. Since when does the US kidnap people, haul them off to secret gulags and deny them rights based on international human rights treaties we've signed? We didn't notify the Red Cross or provide them with access to these prisoners.
These are war crimes. If we weren't torturing them why did we need to keep it secret and deny access to the Red Cross which does that to verify there's no inhumane treatment happening. There's only one explanation for why this was kept secret and the Red Cross was denied access: they were torturing these men.
When Bush says we don't torture and he's never authorized it he's lying like a rug. I think he's parsing words here. If the authorization came from Gonzales or Rumsfeld it's the same thing: he's responsible for whatever his people do. It's called the buck stopping at the Oval Office. We all know you cannot believe a word that comes from George Bush's mouth.
It sounds to me as a lot of good, old fashioned police work was used to stop some of these attacks. That's should be the main focus of our efforts.
Khalid Sheik Muhammed is insane. How do you torture an insane man then rely on anything he says? The truth is you cannot rely on anything you gain from torture which is why it isn't an effective interrogation tool. I keet wondering if any of these people they claim are terrorists really are. KSM would've implicated anyone to stop that torture. Who knows who got arrested? Maybe he simply began reciting the names of everyone he knew. Some are undoubtedly involved but who knows? Only real, fair trials will tell but those have already been totally compromised by our human rights violations.
We're now no better than some banana republic. We've sunk to the level of the worst dictators on the planet. Instead of being the beacon for liberty and human rights we're down in the mud violating them like all those we despise. We've become what Osama said we were. Worse, we're becoming just like the old Soviet Union we fought. Why did we bother fighting the Cold War if we're going to invade anyone we want, spirit people off to gulags and greatly restrict the rights of our own citizens?
Military tribunals are NOT fair trials. Bush is talking about holding legal proceedings where those charged aren't told the evidence being used against them. They may be tried in absentia, meaning they aren't allowed at their own trials. This is America, we don't do those things. In America everyone has the right to know what charges are brought against them, to see the evidence used against them, and have the right to confront those accusing them of wrongdoing. These tribunals are police state tactics. They are unAmerican.
The answer, of course, is we are becoming Amerika, not America. Thank you George Bush.
Bush admitted the secret CIA prisons, or gulags. Since when does the US kidnap people, haul them off to secret gulags and deny them rights based on international human rights treaties we've signed? We didn't notify the Red Cross or provide them with access to these prisoners.
These are war crimes. If we weren't torturing them why did we need to keep it secret and deny access to the Red Cross which does that to verify there's no inhumane treatment happening. There's only one explanation for why this was kept secret and the Red Cross was denied access: they were torturing these men.
When Bush says we don't torture and he's never authorized it he's lying like a rug. I think he's parsing words here. If the authorization came from Gonzales or Rumsfeld it's the same thing: he's responsible for whatever his people do. It's called the buck stopping at the Oval Office. We all know you cannot believe a word that comes from George Bush's mouth.
It sounds to me as a lot of good, old fashioned police work was used to stop some of these attacks. That's should be the main focus of our efforts.
Khalid Sheik Muhammed is insane. How do you torture an insane man then rely on anything he says? The truth is you cannot rely on anything you gain from torture which is why it isn't an effective interrogation tool. I keet wondering if any of these people they claim are terrorists really are. KSM would've implicated anyone to stop that torture. Who knows who got arrested? Maybe he simply began reciting the names of everyone he knew. Some are undoubtedly involved but who knows? Only real, fair trials will tell but those have already been totally compromised by our human rights violations.
We're now no better than some banana republic. We've sunk to the level of the worst dictators on the planet. Instead of being the beacon for liberty and human rights we're down in the mud violating them like all those we despise. We've become what Osama said we were. Worse, we're becoming just like the old Soviet Union we fought. Why did we bother fighting the Cold War if we're going to invade anyone we want, spirit people off to gulags and greatly restrict the rights of our own citizens?
Military tribunals are NOT fair trials. Bush is talking about holding legal proceedings where those charged aren't told the evidence being used against them. They may be tried in absentia, meaning they aren't allowed at their own trials. This is America, we don't do those things. In America everyone has the right to know what charges are brought against them, to see the evidence used against them, and have the right to confront those accusing them of wrongdoing. These tribunals are police state tactics. They are unAmerican.
The answer, of course, is we are becoming Amerika, not America. Thank you George Bush.
posted by PA progressive @ Thursday, September 07, 2006
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