Let freedom ring......or NOT/ Bush signs bill to interrogate, prosecute terror s

[BellisimaJ.]

From OTWA:

http://www.otwa.com/community/showthread.php?t=46410&s=069008873a6d7a9254a7adf2dcab0367&

http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/10/17/b...index.html

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Bush signed legislation Tuesday authorizing tough interrogation of terror suspects and smoothing the way for trials before military commissions, calling it a "vital tool" in the war against terrorism.

Bush's plan for treatment of the terror suspects became law just six weeks after he acknowledged that the CIA had been secretly interrogating suspected terrorists overseas and pressed Congress to quickly give authority to try them in military commissions.

"With the bill I'm about to sign, the men our intelligence officials believe orchestrated the murder of nearly 3,000 innocent people will face justice," Bush said. (Watch Bush explain how this bill will protect the U.S. -- 2:53 Video)

A coalition of religious groups staged a protest against the bill outside the White House, shouting "Bush is the terrorist" and "Torture is a crime." About 15 of the protesters, standing in a light rain, refused orders to move. Police arrested them one by one.

Among those the United States hopes to try are Khalid Shaykh Muhammad, the accused mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks, as well as Ramzi Bin al-Shibh, an alleged would-be 9/11 hijacker, and Zayn al-Abidin Abu Zubaydah, who was believed to be a link between Osama bin Laden and many al Qaeda cells.

"It is a rare occasion when a president can sign a bill that he knows will save American lives," Bush said. "I have that privilege this morning."

Bush signed the bill in the White House East Room, at a table with a sign positioned on the front that said "Protecting America." He said he signed it in memory of the victims of the Sept. 11 attacks.

"We will answer brutal murder with patient justice," Bush said. "Those who kill the innocent will be held to account."

Among those in the audience were military officers, lawmakers who helped pass the bill and members of Bush's Cabinet.

He singled out for praise, among others, Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld, who has come under sharp criticism in recent months as violence has soared in Iraq.

The law protects detainees from blatant abuses during questioning -- such as rape, torture and "cruel and inhuman" treatment -- but does not require that any of them be granted legal counsel. Also, it specifically bars detainees from filing habeas corpus petitions challenging their detentions in federal courts. Bush said the process is "fair, lawful and necessary."

"The bill I sign today helps secure this country, and it sends a clear message: This nation is patient and decent and fair, and we will never back down from threats to our freedom," Bush said. "We are as determined today as we were on the morning of September 12, 2001."

Many Democrats opposed the legislation because they said it eliminated rights of defendants considered fundamental to American values, such as a person's ability to go to court to protest their detention and the use of coerced testimony as evidence. Bush acknowledged that the law came amid dispute.

"Over the past few months, the debate over this bill has been heated, and the questions raised can seem complex," he said. "Yet, with the distance of history, the questions will be narrowed and few. Did this generation of Americans take the threat seriously? And did we do what it takes to defeat that threat?"

The American Civil Liberties Union said the new law is "one of the worst civil liberties measures ever enacted in American history."

"The president can now, with the approval of Congress, indefinitely hold people without charge, take away protections against horrific abuse, put people on trial based on hearsay evidence, authorize trials that can sentence people to death based on testimony literally beaten out of witnesses, and slam shut the courthouse door for habeas petitions," said ACLU Executive Director Anthony D. Romero.

"Nothing could be further from the American values we all hold in our hearts than the Military Commissions Act," he said.
Good news for White House

The swift implementation of the law is a rare bit of good news for Bush as casualties mount in Iraq in daily violence. Lawmakers are increasingly calling for a change of strategy, and political anxieties are jeopardizing Republican's chances of hanging onto control of Congress.

Bush needed the legislation because the Supreme Court in June said the administration's plan for trying detainees in military tribunals violated U.S. and international law.

The legislation, which sets the rules for court proceedings, applies to those selected by the military for prosecution and leaves mostly unaffected the majority of the 14,000 prisoners in U.S. custody, most of whom are in Iraq.

The Pentagon had previously selected 10 prisoners at Guantanamo Bay prison to be tried. Bush is expected also to try some or all the 14 suspects held by the CIA in secret prisons and recently transferred to military custody at Guantanamo.

The bill also eliminates some rights common in military and civilian courts. For example, the commission would be allowed to consider hearsay evidence so long as a judge determined it was reliable. Hearsay is barred from civilian courts.

The legislation also says the president can "interpret the meaning and application" of international standards for prisoner treatment, a provision intended to allow him to authorize aggressive interrogation methods that might otherwise be seen as illegal by international courts. White House press secretary Tony Snow said Bush would probably eventually issue an executive order that would describe his interpretation, but those documents are not usually made public and Snow did not reveal when it might be issued.

Copyright 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Pretty sure, from some reading I did prior to the signing, that this bill even applies to American citizens.

The day that freedom died.

[regic]

Pretty sure, from some reading I did prior to the signing, that this bill even applies to American citizens.

The day that freedom died.

It's debatable whether TODAY is the day freedom died because the government has been using its 'war on terror' as a subterfuge for its real agenda of curtailing the freedom of the average American.  The signing of the Patriot Act could also be seen as the day freedom died as could many other actions taken in the past 5 years.

One thing is certain, today is another milestone in the 'redistribution' of freedom that has occurred this decade: mom and pop have less freedom but corporate America has more.

[BellisimaJ.]

The signing of the Patriot Act could also be seen as the day freedom died as could many other actions taken in the past 5 years.

Agreed. But I do see today as the nearly final nail in the coffin.

Anyone for the UK? >

[rejoicemusic]

Anyone for the UK?

DH  has been campaigning for Canada - our neighbor to the North.  http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/skilled/assess/ - here's a link to the Canadian government test to see if you qualify as a Skilled Worker.

[regic]

Anyone for the UK?

They've been as bad if not worse in their legislation over the past 5 years. .

[BellisimaJ.]

[quote author=regic link=topic=5495.msg27997#msg27997 date=1161115070]

Anyone for the UK?

They've been as bad if not worse in their legislation over the past 5 years. .
[/quote]

Hmmmmmm.........just looking for the light.

[BellisimaJ.]

Paraphsasing what Senator Feingold (Russ) said today:

"This is a day which will  blacken our nation's history."

It makes me sad.

[mandy]

Update:

Today the US Senate fell four votes short of restoring Habeas Corpus, the fundamental constitutional right of individuals to challenge government detention, which the Republican Congress revoked in last year's Military Commissions Act. Fifty-six senators supported a procedural move to tie the Habeas provision to legislation authorizing defense spending--a step that requires sixty votes.
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The amendment was sponsored by Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy, Senator Arlen Specter, who voted for the legislation that the amendment attempts to reverse, and Senator Chris Dodd, who blasted today's vote. "Each of us in the Senate faced a decision either to cast a vote in favor of helping to restore America's reputation in the world, or to help dig deeper the hole of utter disrespect for the rule of law that the Bush Administration has created. Unfortunately, too many of my colleagues chose the latter," he said...

full article: http://news.yahoo.com/s/thenation/200709...n/15234404

On a related loss of freedom note:

President Bush wants to renew and expand the controversial temporary surveillance legislation he rushed into law last month.

The law, also known as the "Protect America Act," updates the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) by permitting warrantless surveillance of any targets located abroad, even if they are communicating with someone in the United States. Because of a sunset clause, the law is due to expire Feb. 1, 2008...

full article: http://ecommercetimes.com/story/CPfZQehz...tone.xhtml