Obama and Habeas Corpus - Then and Now

[paparush]

Back in February, the Obama administration shocked many civil libertarians by filing a brief in federal court that, in two sentences, declared that it embraced the most extremist Bush theory on this issue -- the Obama DOJ argued, as The New York Times's Charlie Savage put it, "that military detainees in Afghanistan have no legal right to challenge their imprisonment there, embracing a key argument of former President Bush’s legal team." Remember: these are not prisoners captured in Afghanistan on a battlefield. Many of them have nothing to do with Afghanistan and were captured far, far away from that country -- abducted from their homes and workplaces -- and then flown to Bagram to be imprisoned. Indeed, the Bagram detainees in the particular case in which the Obama DOJ filed its brief were Yemenis and Tunisians captured outside of Afghanistan (in Thailand or the UAE, for instance) and then flown to Bagram and locked away there as much as six years without any charges. That is what the Obama DOJ defended, and they argued that those individuals can be imprisoned indefinitely with no rights of any kind -- as long as they are kept in Bagram rather than Guantanamo.

<snip>
So that Barack Obama -- the one trying to convince Democrats to make him their nominee and then their President -- said that abducting people and imprisoning them without charges was (a) un-American; (b) tyrannical; (c) unnecessary to fight Terrorism; (d) a potent means for stoking anti-Americanism and fueling Terrorism; (e) a means of endangering captured American troops, Americans traveling abroad and Americans generally; and (f) a violent betrayal of core, centuries-old Western principles of justice. But today's Barack Obama, safely ensconced in the White House, fights tooth and nail to preserve his power to do exactly that.

http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2009/04/11/bagram/

[Davis_X_Machina]

1. Impeachment...

...starts in the House Judiciary Committee. Their addresses are here.

Start writing. If you're serious, it's what needs to get done.

[Why Syzygy]

2. That won't happen ..

but the Dems better galldurn well have a STRONG candidate in 2012.

[cali]

3. really? you think that's what needs to be done?

[Davis_X_Machina]

5. IF...

...you really believe that Obama's not faithfully executing the law, then yes.

[stillcool]

6. I am certain that eventually...

the prisoners in Afghanistan as well as the detainee's will be able to sue the U.S.Government, in a U.S. Court. I think they should allow these suits, and open the flood-gates for the rest that are coming..the sooner the better. I can understand why the government would defend itself, especially if they have not completely gone over the 'facts'. That said..I think you're right. Impeachment is definitely in order. The sooner the better for that too.

[Political Heretic]

11. So damn, even I'm willing to wait and see more before THAT

heh...

[tbyg52]

4. I"m willing to give him some more time before I go *that* far....! ;-> nt

[uponit7771]

7. You sure this isn't ANOTHER knee jerk article? We've seen plenty....

[leftofthedial]

8. I think Mr. Obama has undergone some sort of fundamental change in philosophy.

Perhaps the military industrial MIB have had a talk with him.

For a fan of Rick Warren, Obama's getting pretty good at switching sides.

[ima_sinnic]

9. K&R -- tired of this issue falling on deaf ears

no matter how hard I try, I just cannot get all happy-face about someone continuing with the human rights abuses and unconstitutional, illegal activities of his predecessor, with the smug attitude, apparently, that he can do whatever he wants because he has such huge "popular support." These are a taint on what promised to be an enlightened presidency, a poison that will eventually erode that support to disdain and resistance, if he doesn't goddam do something about them. He himself said on the first day that the world was watching--well, it hasn't looked away yet.

[LittleBlue]

10. He won't talk to us honestly about why. He just asserts more of the Bush imperial power crap

and I'm tired of it.

Again, he will have a hard time pulling his base together in 2012 if he keeps this shit up.

[Political Heretic]

12. He is making the problem worse by offerning no explanation on the MANY seeming reversals

Note the use of the word "seeming." Not all of us necessarily understand entirely what is going on. It's too bad that once again it feels like we are dealing with an opaque administration rather than a transparent one.