The Habeas Corpus Act of 1679
The Much Welcome Changes for the Senate Personnel Subcommittee
Corpus and the 4 Writs of the Consitution
Odd title it seems I am sure but there is a strong reason for it and should be prohibited in disregarding the right of any human being to their body.
Torture or no torture.
The definition of Habeaus Corpus
http://www.lectlaw.com/def/h001.htm
The reason I bring up Habeas Corpus is that it is being toyed with by the Right Radicals of the Bush Administration including his attorney general and it should not. The one member of "The Personnel Subcommittee on Torture and Standards" whom is also Chairperson is Lindsey Graham. I like Senator Graham but his approach to the subject of torture and treatment of prisoners is a little too high handed and feels 'Habeas Corpus' is an issue that stands in the way of effective change to military reform taking out of the hands of the Executive Branch the immoral treatment of prisoners and therefore compromising the integrity of the USA in the International Community while inviting prosecution of our military in courts of human rights.
With Senator Graham being magnanimous to everyone including the Extremists of this administration who was represented by Former Attorney General William Barr; is risking the treatment of USA prisoners taken in war without Habeas Corpus for those we take in war. One of the focuses of this subcommitee was THAT well being of our soldiers as prisoners with Senator John McCain preciding over this aspect of the committee hearings today.
THE ONLY REAL OBJECTION I had regarding what I hear today was the willingness to play with Habeous Corpus considering the plans of this Senate Subcommittee is desiring to codify the military process matching closely the civil processes of this country. A dangerous omission in that change could be diverted to civil law if not so careful the degree of care is not imaginable especially considering we have seen the stoppage of a Senate Bill only yesterday regarding same outcome in civil law.
"The Streamlined Procedure Act of 2005"
http://www.fpdpaw.org/pdf/StreamlinedProceduresAct2005.pdf
To this I feel very stongly and do not see Senator Lindsey Graham as a person that willingly or desirously would want this type of exploitation of the American people so much as wrongly convinced this is the way to go.
We would not want even our soldiers deprived of that right and therefore any changes in military law needs to consider that strongly. Habeas Corpus is hands off. With that the good news ...
Senate Personnel Subcommittee on Torture and Standards
This committee has some wonderful members, Senator Graham is the Chair with members such as Senator Carl Levin and John McCain and others. All of these Senators were interested in the proceedings of Humdi and Padilla and I am confident the spelling of their names is wrong AND how the court decisions being made daily from the District Courts on up are bringing opinion to bear and making a real mess of the battlefield.
The first set of hearings was with members, primarily Major Generals of the JAG Corp across all branches of government. These generals were very happy to be heard and willing to speak but also admitted openly that requested documents by this distinguished committee was still classified and could not be easily released. The Generals did promise Senator Carl Levin he would be provided the memos regarding The Church Memo as early as next week. I personally as an American concerned about this country and it's image as well as it's mistreatment of prisoners certainly hope the JAG Corp will produce all the documents this committee wants to expedite their work and bring relief to the International Scrutiny of our military. So somehow getting documents regarding The Church Memo to Senator Levin by next week seems very long to me.
With that noted there was a great deal of satisfaction by this Senate Subcommittee regarding the testimonies of the JAG Corp today and I have to agree. Between this fine men of our military and their extensive knowledge of miltiary law and the desired outcome of the Senate Subcommittee I would expect some real changes to reault in humane treatment of prisoners which was on everyone's lips but also dignity returned to our military.
Purpose as Witnessed Today of this Senate Committee
One of the primary focuses of this subcommitte was the fact that Justice O'Connor somewhat chastised the Legislative Branch of this government in that they did not provide sufficient verbiage to have the Judiciary carry out what Justice O'Connor saw as 'correct' decisions regarding immoral treatment of prisoners.
That was the stimulating event to most of these committee members but as Senator Graham stated the changes in military law that would structure the Executive Branch as well as the Judicial Branch was truly based in looking out for our own as they may become prisoners at the hands of enemies and where there is unfair treatment of our prisoners under standards set primarily mimicing the Geneva Conventions we could act as an invading force to releave those prisoners of mistreatment and stop same. I thought that was an amazing thought and certainly one that rose above the high goals of this subcommittee as a real goal to setting high standards for our military in a code similar if not identical to "The Army Field Manual" already in existance.
Noted among the testimony of the members of the JAG Corp was some very real and disturbing verbiage of what has transpired in memos existing from the early days of the war in Iraq stating techniques of torture could include all lude acts, torture both physical and emotional leading even to death. Hence, Abu Ghraib. So, it would seem many of the unclassified documents remain so because it implicates higher authority in the military and not just the people whom's behavior on the Night Shift has been and is being prosectued including Lindy England.
The JAG Corp Generals did say something I thought was overlooked but perhaps not but in advise to the subcommittee they stated some of the documents requested would not be helpful because they were 'Deliberative Documents.' I would think understanding the process of Deliberation of the JAG Corp would be paramount to understanding were change would impact that deliberative process. I don't see those documents as insignificant nor should the JAG Corp Generals who put their effort and expertise into deliberation. These documents should be included in the record of this Senate Subcommittee.
The Civil Side of this that Senator McCain called for.
McCain's Contribution is 'A Breath of Fresh Air.'
The Women of Gitmo Somehow with Senator McCain's history as a POW one might expect a more severe approach to by this distinguished man who doggedly pursues priorities this administration sets aside as insignificant due to it's extremism. What I witnessed was a Senator who had been there and a Senator who would not be undone to provide the USA with the best interrogation process it has ever known.
I trust this subcommittee nearly completely without looking over my shoulder EXCEPT in the area I stated earlier with Habeas Corpus. Senator Graham is all to willing to go there and the reason is not his so much because men like Former Attorney William Barr is forcing the issue with whatever clout he may still have left over from his years under Bush #41. That would be the wrong direction of this subcommitee.
The three civilians speaking today were Mr. Barr; Mr. John Hutson, President and Dean of the Franklin Puritan Law Center an academic foundation and Stephen Saltzburg a George Washington University Law Professor. Mr. Hutson and Mr. Saltzburg had the best recommendation of the three and were openly and strongly in favor of the outcomes of this Subcommittee submitting their open and honest answers to all the presubmitted questions of the committee to written testimony which they requested be made part of the record of the work of this subcommittee. Of those two, Mr. Saltzburg was the most passionate with some very real ideas regarding changes to the military laws of this country and their achievement of high moral standards as well as effective interrogation. I am quite confident neither Mr. Saltzburg nor Mr. Hutson would approve of the tactics of the Editoral regarding The Women of Gitmo.
What about the Prisoners of Gitmo
Among the priorities of this Senate Subcommitee is to bring Gitmo dignity by making it a 'Class Act.' Raising standards, providing guidance and allowing good and EFFECTIVE interrogation accompanied by humane treatment of the prisoners by a standardized treatment facility with a codified military law.
The idea is that we have entered into a different war this time. One where by a terrorist network is one that spans many countries where other wars were fought against one sovereign nation. Gitmo and this new codification of Military Law would provide better standards to operate by and better define the definition of Enemy Combatant as well as limiting the meaning and character of Military Commission. The goal of all this including the imprisonment and interrogation of the inmates would be to proceed to procecution whereby perhaps inmates would meet with sentence via a military tribunal of death for murders such as The World Trade Towers. In doing so what is impressed to the global community of terrorists is that they will receive severe and life threatening sentences if indeed they are found guilty of a crime against humanity. This Subcommittee is also focused on the fact that terrorist networks work primarily to kill civilians which is expressly forbidden by The Geneva Conventions. The ultimate goal is to convert Gitmo into a secure facility as well as an effective interrogation facility whereby justice happens as well and not just life sentences as an enemy combatant. It seems so bizarre to have Walker Bush insist on the killers of terrorist attacks to be committed to life sentences when none of their civilian victims were.
The Primary Cry of all that gave testimony today was "Fairness to Detainees" realizing some of them might just be innocent. I believe it was Mr. Saltzburg called into the testimony also the American Bar Association position in that civilians such as himself should be included in Military Commisssions which is not done today under Bush/Cheney.
What impressed me about Mr. Hutson's testimony was his opening statement in a rather strong and directed voice, "There are serious problems of Congress Oversight." All the preciding members of the Subcommittee concurred. His thoroughness was not matched by any of the other members that testified today.
His vision was one by where The Law was the floor of a house and the morality of it as carried out under this administration was in the basement while we should be rising well above the law. Not to say we were above it to disregard it but above it in the morality of our military laws that were unmatched so the floor was solid and without reproach by any agency or authority within our borders or outside of them.
He made an excellant point in that the USA is widely deployed around the world and our numbers were substantial compared to any other nation on this planet and that to raise our standards would insure the integrity of our country which would then be a welcome entity in any country we found ourselves. He also stated with that number of deployed troops at any time in our history we need to provide a strong image of morals in humane treatment to insure our troops received the same. A brief view of Mr. Barr. continued ...
Attorney General William Barr who served under Bush #41
He was nasty and particularly nasty to Senator John McCain. He stated the Senate Subcommittee was inappropriate and an attempt to micromanage war. He felt strongly the Executive Branch needed a free hand to do exactly as they needed to regardless the opinion of any country internationally. He was the one that reiterated earlier words of Senator Graham regarding Habeas Corpus. Those were his opening remarks and he was disregarded after that deferring testimony to Mr. Saltzburg and Mr. Hutson.
Senator Johh McCain directly read from the USA Constitution to him stating Congress has the obligation to provide standards of miltiary law both on land and sea. That of course today would also include air. With that Mr. Barr accussed the Senate Subcommitte of micromanagement and the rest of his appearance was unnecessary and he was not asked to speak again.
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I was left with an uncomfortable impression regarding the 'timely' resignation of Justice Sandra Day O'Connor as well as a result of what I heard today. We know how she is a swing vote in this court and how her opinion in regard to enemy combatants brought this alertness to the Legislature. Rightfully so. I cannot help but feel as some level of her decision making was a real slap in the face by Walker Bush and Cheney stating her precense caused the country to be at risk and she would never be granted a place a the first Woman Chief Justice.
Just a thought.
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I stongly feel every aspect of this society that desires the protections of high moral standards apply to our military rally round this Subcommittee and while scrutiny is necessary we need to realize they are acting as the Legislature has never acted before willing to take on the tough work while being members of the 'Committee of Fourteen' and there is absolutely no doubt that politically Walker Bush and Cheney will make them pay. It would behoove all in our country to realize we are witnessing greatness as well as bravery in the face of an administration with vicious political and adverse tendancies that result in poor outcomes for this country, ie: Gitmo currently, Abu Ghraib and Iraq in general while Osama bin Laden is still at the 'state of play.'
I believe we are on the right track and acting in the right direction finally but this Subcommittee requires a lot of support as it will meet a lot of resistance otherwise including the Propaganda Press of the Right as already today Lou Dobbs is accusing the Senate of Propaganda. Who knows where it will lead regardless the party. It needs to stop realizing we are a country with profound problems because of the action of this current administration and we all need to start rowing in the same direction.
