Howell-at-the-Moon
!Libertarian Rants! John Wingspread Howell
Tribunal Justice
And now a word about Bin Laden's driver...
The trial of Salim Hamdan for war crimes has been a complete farce, but worse, a mockery of the values and the rule of law we (as a nation) claim to honor and cherish. Although there is no lasting comfort in the accidental justice of the military tribunal system, there is much to be celebrated-- and feared.
We should celebrate that despite the fact that the military tribunals were set up for the Bush administration to dispose of anyone they wanted to label an enemy combatant with what would appear to be a "stacked deck," of a do-it-yourself court of military leaders, this stacked jury still showed restraint and a commitment to truth and justice, in Hamedan's case. In fact, the Judge even expressed compassion for the accused. We should also celebrate Hamdan's attorneys. They are military lawyers. Still, they believed in their client and became passionate about saving him. In short, despite the fact that our executive branch did everything within its power to railroad this poor young man caught in the crossfire, the values and principles of justice seem to have been so well inculcated in the players involved in this case that truth and justice seem to have prevailed. Attorneys, Judge and Jury all in their own ways, pushed back.
Why should we care about this Middle Eastern young man, a muslim, an employee of Al Kaieda if not a member of the group, who was, after all, admittedly Bin Laden's driver?
We should care because in the scheme of things he was only trying to earn a living. He committed no war crimes, yet he was tried for war crimes in a military tribunal. More than anything he was guilty of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. He was set up by the President of the United States to be scapegoated. It worked for a while until his legal team started winning some small victories in the courts, then larger victories, and finally, the The Supreme Court ruling that guaranteed Mr.Hamdan fair treatment. Despite later reversals, the courts put the Imperial Presidency in its place with this case.
We should care because from domestic spying to classifying citizens as enemy combatants in order to circumvent their Constitutional rights and our justice system, the current administration is leading us -- or trying to-- right out of America as we know it and right into something that resembles Cuba or China more than anything we're familiar with. Truth is missing in action in the administration's spin. We're being told that we're at war, so it's necessary to cut some strings and skip some steps.We need to remember why we have the system we have, and how that system is what makes us the great nation we are today, and how easy it has already become to let it slip away.
Howooooo!
(John Howell-at-the-Moon)