In any case, the Commander was ASSIGNED by the government to represent this case. It’s just like a public defender assigned to represent someone in civilian courts.

Military walks a fine line between publicly voicing their disagreement and insubordination. They are governed by the UCMJ and the same ‘free speech’ rules do not apply when in uniform. Tough spot to be in, but stong commanders can work their ideas up the chain internally. Politics within the military establishment, inter and intra service is vicious. A total dog eat dog game.

Again, a GREAT book on how such things work is:

Boyd: The Fighter Pilot Who Changed the Art of Warfare by Robert Coram.

Boyd was a total maverick, genius, and underdog whose ideas were shunned, yet everytime he was right. Him and his friends in DOD were responsibile for really shaking things up when careerists and politicians got in the way of doing things truthfully and correctly. They took their lumps, but held their heads high for sticking to the truth and what was right. It’s a brutal place to be and trust me when I say most can’t even comprehend how vicious it gets.

So true to life that you had many of us fooled….

You bring up an interesting point. As I understand it, lawyers for nearly 70 Gitmo prisoners have injunctions in place preventing their clients from being transfered back to their home countries because of the fear of torture.

Btw – something else you said was troubling. In your first post you said that if the S. Ct. says something, then they must be right. I would urge you to reconsider. The S. Ct. is simply 9 lawyers who rotate out over time. While they have the last say, they may not be right all the time; one does not equal the other. You should examine an opinion’s reasoning critcally and make up your own mind re whether they are right or not. It’s your responsibility as a citizen to do so and not abdicate it to the court blindly, or worse, to Fox News.

As a side note: If folks are of the opinion that the Gitmo detainees are not being treated fairly by the US, I suggest sending them back to the country of their origins (Turkey/Egypt/Afghanistan etc). The prison-wardens in those countries will start by pulling out their finger-nails and cutting their eyelids, and then proceed to skin them alive.

M. Nam

Manju — what you say is basically correct, in that the decision is much more about separation of powers than individual rights. But that doesn’t mean that anything goes — while the Court hasn’t yet definitively stated what they are, there are limits to what Congress legitimately can authorize the President to do.

MoorNam, sa, razib:

The supreme court did not find the program unconstitutional, rather that that it was unauthorized by federal statute and violated international law.

Bush can go to congress for authorization. I think an authorization by congress would also overrule international law (but I’m not sure of the details). The only constitutional issue is seperation of powers, ie which branch of governament has the authority to decide who gets a military tribunal…and SCOTUS has said it is the legislature.

So no need for an ammendment.

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blockquote> Shortly after midnight on the morning of June 13, 1942, four men landed on a beach near Amagansett, Long Island, New York, from a German submarine, clad in German uniforms and bringing ashore enough explosives, primers, and incendiaries to support an expected two-year career in the sabotage of American defense-related production. On June 17, 1942, a similar group landed on Ponte Vedra Beach, near Jacksonville, Florida, equipped for a similar career in industrial disruption. … Both groups landed wearing complete or partial German uniforms to ensure treatment as prisoners of war rather than as spies if they were caught in the act of landing. Having landed unobserved, the uniforms were quickly discarded, to be buried with the sabotage material (which was intended to be later retrieved), and civilian clothing was donned.

…

The eight were tried before a Military Commission, comprised of seven U.S. Army officers appointed by President Roosevelt, from July 8, to August 4, 1942. The trial was held in the Department of Justice Building, Washington, D.C. The prosecution was headed by Attorney General Frances Biddle and the Army Judge Advocate General, Major General Myron C. Cramer. Defense counsel included Colonel Kenneth C. Royall (later Secretary of War under President Truman) and Major Lausen H. Stone (son of Harlan Fiske Stone, the Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court).

All eight were found guilty and sentenced to death. Attorney General Biddle and J. Edgar Hoover appealed to President Roosevelt to commute the sentences of Dasch and Burger. Dasch then received a 30-year sentence, and Burger received a life sentence, both to be served in a federal penitentiary. The remaining six were executed at the District of Columbia Jail on August 8, 1942.

Link

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