Theres alot of good diaries about really bad people on DKOS. Bush, Cheney, Falwell, Gonzo, Rove, etcetcetc. People who don't give a damn about us, our country, and what makes it so great. So as I was browsing through my my morning news cycle and ran across this article I felt inclined to share with DKOS the story of a hero:
A military jury recommended that a Navy lawyer spend six months in prison and be dismissed from the service for sending a human rights attorney the names of 550 Guantanamo Bay detainees in an unmarked Valentine's Day card.
Lt. Cmdr. Matthew Diaz was convicted Thursday at his court martial of communicating secret information about Guantanamo Bay detainees that could be used to injure the United States and three other charges of leaking information to an unauthorized person.
after the first day of his trial on Monday, Diaz told The Dallas Morning News that he felt sending the list was the right decision because of how the detainees were being treated.
"My oath as a commissioned officer is to the Constitution of the United States," Diaz said. "I'm not a criminal."
WHAT THE HELL??!?! To the constitution?!?! Whats that damn liberal military been teaching our troops?
As you may have remember that America Hatin' Supreme Court ruled that Guanton detainees had the right to challenege their detention. But at the same time the Pentagon would not identify the detainees, interfering with their right to representation. And then:
In early 2005, as he was finishing a six-month tour of duty as a legal adviser at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, Diaz sent an anonymous note to a lawyer at a New York civil liberties group with a list of the detainees' names.
"I had observed the stonewalling, the obstacles we continued to place in the way of the attorneys," Diaz said. "I knew my time was limited. ... I had to do something."
In an hourlong interview after the opening day of his trial Monday, Diaz said he believes the Bush administration's prosecution of the war on terror is illegal. He accused officials of violating international law, such as the Geneva Conventions on the humane treatment of war prisoners, and the U.S. Constitution's guarantee of due process.
......
Bush administration officials have characterized the Guantanamo population overall as "the worst of the worst." Diaz said that is one of two incorrect or false statements.
"The other statement was 'We do not torture,' " said Diaz, whose jobs included tracking and investigating abuse allegations.
"I think a good case could be made for allegations of war crimes, policies that were war crimes," he said. "There was a way to do this properly, and we're not doing it properly."