During World War II, American GIs risked life and limb for the lives and liberty of foreign nationals all over the world. The United States EARNED the reputation as a nation that brought justice to those that perpetrated unspeakable evil, the United States EARNED the reputation as a nation that protected the weak and the innocent, no matter where their borders lay. The American soldier was willing to lay down his life to protect liberty. As such they were celebrated as heroes from Britain to Nepal. Even their enemies in Germany, Italy and Japan admired their resolute and steadfast sacrifices in the name of freedom and in defense of their nation's principles.
Today Congress, in an act of extreme cowardice has passed competing bills that will forever re-cast the reputation of the United States as a nation willing to sacrifice any principle in the name of self preservation. Every Congressman who voted for either bill has shown that they are willing to sacrifice liberty to save their own lives. The antithesis of every veteran since George Washington.
Republicans are the party of Torturing Cowards.
Under the Senate version, which astonishingly is worse that the House (something I didn't think was possible to achieve), the following will be legal when signed into law by the ultimate coward, the man who is everything the writers of the Constitution despised. President will have the power to decide who qualifies as an enemy combatant, and that person will be the victim of the following.
1) The President of the United States will decide what constitutes a serious violation of the Geneva Conventions - an international treaty the US signed in order to protect its servicemen from torture and abuse. Violations of the Geneva Conventions will now be legal, provided the President doesn't rule them to be serious violations.
2) Testimony extracted under the most serious violations of the Geneva Conventions prior to the passage of the now redundant McCain Torture Bill of 2005 will be admissible as evidence.
3) Protesting that your rights as defined by the Geneva Conventions have been violated will now be against the law, and will not be permitted in court.
4) The defendant can be tried under a Military tribunal. During this trial with no jury, the defendant will not have the right to see any evidence not presented to the non-existent jury. In other words none of the evidence used against them.
5) The defendant will have no right of appeal. This was inserted to prevent people convicted in these kangaroo military tribunals tying up federal courts with appeals over, say, having been convicted with confessions gained through torture and abuse.
6) Evidence collected without a warrant will be admissible in court.
7) Evidence that includes hearsay and rumour will now be officially admissible in court.
8) The defendant will have no right to challenge his detention in court - this right dates back to Magna Carta, the first "Bill of Rights" if you will, passed in Medieval England during the Middle Ages. This means George Bush and his Ba'athist party have less integrity and fewer principles than the ruling Aristocracy of the Middle Ages.
I keep hearing these cowards and liars say that the American people need to see that they are doing everything possible to protect them from terror. No, the American people DO NOT want you to day ANYTHING POSSIBLE to protect them from terror - YOU want it. YOU are the one cowering in fear at mere mention of Al Qaeda. YOU are the one willing to sacrifice everything the United States gained since the Revolutionary War in the name of self preservation.
You have to draw the line. You have to say, NO, I will NOT do this, because to do so would make me no better than those I purport to protect you from. I know this means we may be attacked, I know this means that innocents will be killed. But no one person is more important than the principles this country was built on. The veterans of World War II showed that it was more important to die defending freedom than to live at the expense of liberty.
This bill shits on the memories of every American Veteran. It says that their sacrifices were meaningless, that those that died to save the world from tyranny did so in order for this Congress to give everything they fought for away - a Congress that cowers and whimpers, a Congress that places political expediency above the reputation of every American soldier that ever served their nation.
Not a single one of the members of Congress that voted for either bill should be allowed to represent the people of the United States again. All should be stripped of their office, all should be publicly shamed for their cowardice.
As for the President. Comparing George W. Bush to Hitler, to Stalin, to Sadam Hussein can no longer be considered the trite action of a political extremist. Every victim that this bill will suffer will have the right to compare him to the worst dictators the world has witnessed. This President is willing for the United States to go down in history along side the Nazis as a nation that tortures detainees without evidence of wrongdoing.
This President should not be impeached. He should be tried for Treason.
Why do the Republicans want to be the Party of Cowardice and Torture?
It's simple really. As it stands, anyone with any responsibility for the 700 detainees of Gitmo could in theory be charged with war crimes. The President keeps saying he wants to protect CIA operatives from needless prosecution, but the reality is he wants to protect himself and his cronies. Only 10 of those 700 detainees have been charged with any crime, many have been held and tortured for years. Without this bill when most of them are found to be innocent, as many of the previous occupants have been, including man who died from a heart attack induced by beating his legs to pulp, each and every one of them could stand as a witness in his trial. Each and every one of them would of course also be entitled to incalculable compensation.
There is no doubt that some of the worst examples of humanity reside in Gitmo, the problem is that many of their compatriots are missing, whilst they carry out their day to day duties denigrating the reputation of the United States in Congress and the White House.