Less than twenty-four hours since the Obama Administration flip-flopped its position on releasing torture photos (and breached its agreement with the ACLU), the Obama Administration flip-flopped once again. This time it occurred on the issue of military tribunals at Gitmo. You remember Gitmo, the same place Obama told us a while back he was intent on closing down. Nope. Still open for business, and likely to stay open as long as the wars Obama escalated in Afghanistan and expanded to Pakistan continue. That means a long, long, long time from now folks.
Remember the beautiful campaign speeches that Barack Obama made during the campaign? He repeatedly bashed Bush for setting up military tribunals:
During last year’s presidential campaign, Mr. Obama called the military commission system put in place by Mr. Bush "an enormous failure" and vowed to "reject the Military Commissions Act."
SOURCE: http://www.nytimes.com/...
And in a speech given on August 1, 2007, entitled "The War We Need to Win", Obama specifically rejected the Military Commission Act:
What's more, in the dark halls of Abu Ghraib and the detention cells of Guantanamo, we have compromised our most precious values. What could have been a call to a generation has become an excuse for unchecked presidential power. ...
I also will reject a legal framework that does not work. There has been only one conviction at Guantanamo. It was for a guilty plea on material support for terrorism. The sentence was 9 months. There has not been one conviction of a terrorist act. I have faith in America's courts, and I have faith in our JAGs. As President, I will close Guantanamo, reject the Military Commissions Act, and adhere to the Geneva Conventions. Our Constitution and our Uniform Code of Military Justice provide a framework for dealing with the terrorists.
www.barackobama.com
(emphasis added)
Nice words, pretty words, but meaningless since they only appear to have been a calculated way of getting elected (just like the nice words and promises on FISA; on doing away swiftly with tax breaks for those making over $250,000 a year; with single payer health care [never seriously under consideration by this administration]; transparency in government;closing Gitmo; getting out of Iraq quickly--what's the words he uses now, "residual forces"?--; bringing fresh faces to Washington [like Tim Daschle and Hillary]; oh yes, and bringing about change). Just as Obama caved in to Defense Secretary Gates and the generals yesterday on release of photos, he let another shoe drop (or flip flop) today, caving in to essentially to the same people. The New York Times is reporting that President Obama has "decided to keep the military commission his predecessor created to try suspected terrorists."
According to the same source, Obama aides said some defendants might be tried in civilian courts and that they were trying to create a "durable, multilayered option." Sounds like a kind of torture wedding cake whose original design is by George W. Bush and Dick Cheney but now one that has a new glamorous Obama designer label on it with a few fluffy swirls and better p.r. One of the Obama swirls, the Times reports, is that although hearsay evidence will still be allowed in the tribunals, this time (or serving) around, the Obama plan will shift the burden from the defense to the prosecution to prove it is reliable. Too bad the same old biased tasters (judges) from the military will still be making the decisions. That is to say, the military judges will rule on whether the prosecution has met its burden on hearsay (guess who's side they're likely to take?). A layer of Obama frosting won't obscure the essential unevenness and unfairness of the product. And as the Times notes:
Even with the additional rights Mr. Obama is proposing, defendants would still not enjoy the same protections as in civilian courts.
Enough said. I'm "looking forward and not backward". I'm off to bake up some Obama change cake; it's a delicate task involving mostly incanting words and raising expectations (I've tried ordinary yeast but it is not as effective as "hope"). Let's pray it's not a flop, or should I say, flip flop. Again.