Well NY and America, here is our new Presidents first Agenda
@olivebranch56 (910)
United States
January 21, 2009 3:51am CST
I am sick to my stomach. The lives lost in NYC on Sept 11th are worth nothing it seems. Our new President, considers the rights of terrorist more important. Read this and tell me what you feel.
Obama administration moves to suspend Gitmo trials
GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba – Military judges will consider Wednesday whether to halt the Guantanamo war crimes trials after President Barack Obama ordered prosecutors to request a 120-day suspension during a review of the system used to try suspected terrorists.
The motions, filed just hours after Obama's inauguration, will be heard in the cases of five men charged in the Sept. 11 attacks and of Canadian Omar Khadr, who is accused of killing an American soldier with a grenade in Afghanistan in 2002.
Obama has said he will close the military detention center in Cuba, where the U.S. holds about 245 men, and he had been expected to halt the widely criticized war-crimes trials created by former President George W. Bush and Congress in 2006.
The motions to suspend the trials came the day of Obama's inauguration. Before Obama was sworn in, a military judge adjourned the war crimes court until Wednesday, noting the future of the commissions was in doubt.
In the motion filed for the Sept. 11 case, U.S. military prosecutor Clay Trivett says a continuance is necessary in all pending cases because the review may result in significant changes to the system.
"The interests of justice served by granting the requested continuance outweigh the interests of both the public and the accused in a prompt trial," Trivett wrote.
The motion was written at the direction of the president and Defense Secretary Robert Gates, he said.
"It will permit the newly inaugurated president and his administration to undertake a thorough review of both the pending cases and the military commissions process generally," he added.
There are war crimes charges pending against 21 men being held at Guantanamo, including the five charged with murder and other crimes in the Sept. 11 case. Judges would be required to suspend the other cases as well, though hearings may not be necessary.
Eric Holder, the president's nominee for attorney general, has said the so-called military commissions lack sufficient legal protections for defendants and that they could be tried in the United States.
A human rights group at Guantanamo to observe this week's session of the war crimes court welcomed what appeared to be the looming end of the special tribunals.
"It's a great first step but it is only a first step," said Gabor Rona, international director of Human Rights First. "The suspension of military commissions so soon after President Obama took office is an indication of the sense of urgency he feels about reversing the destructive course that the previous administration was taking in fighting terrorism."
Jamil Dakwar, director of the human rights program at the American Civil Liberties Union, said it was a positive step but "the president's order leaves open the option of this discredited system remaining in existence."
Relatives of victims of the Sept. 11 attacks, who were also at the base to observe the hearings, have said they oppose any further delay in the trials of the men charged in the case.
1 person likes this
5 responses
@bobmnu (8157)
• United States
21 Jan 09
It would be nice if people would read the Geneva Convention. These people have no rights according to international law. In the Treaty it states that they if they are fighting in a foreign country, not in military Uniform of a recoginized country they they are Illegal Enemy Combantants and have no legal standing. The country that captures them only duty is to give them a hearing to explain the charges against them. They are not given a trial or legal counsel unless the country wants to. The only mistake President Bush made was he did not set up a procedure to provide each person with a hearing. at first.
The problem we have is there are too many treaties and too many lawyers involved. There are conflicting treaties and the language is very vague.
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@olivebranch56 (910)
• United States
22 Jan 09
Thanks for your input bob, I didn't know this myself. I will read this info.
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@SeoulBoy_Art (193)
• Japan
26 Jan 09
The war on Terror is a lie and has been a lie since Bush first used the phrase. WE had Osama trapped in the mountains but what did bush do he tried to outsource the war. Then they offer money for information on terrorist and people started turning in anyone and they ended up at Gitmo. Not to mention that a few countries that were working with us saw it as a means to get rid of the people who spoke out about the government. Finally, how can you have a war on terror and you don`t mention Saudi Arabia. 13 of the911 terrorist are from where Saudi Arabia. They fund most of the terror organizations with which we are at war with. Hell most of you have helped fund terrorist every time you gas up your car.But nobody mentions that.
@olivebranch56 (910)
• United States
27 Jan 09
Seoul I didn't mention Saudi Arabia, or any other area, I said the ones who plotted the 9/11 fiasco. As far as having Bin Laudin trapped, how many times did the CIA tell Clinton where he was, and asked if they could kill him, Clinton looked the other way, because he was in the oil barrens pockets.
"Hell most of you have helped fund terrorist every time you gas up your car.But nobody mentions that.'
What you don't drive? If you want to defend these murder's go right ahead that is your right, but don't expect me to feel sorry for you when they are released, and kill you or one of your family members when they do it again, and they will do it again, if they are released.
@SeoulBoy_Art (193)
• Japan
27 Jan 09
It`s clear that you did not read my comment. So, I repeat 13 of the terrorist came from Saudi Arabia. Two nobody said anything about freeing those who are there for crimes they committed I said not all of them had committed crimes but were placed there by other governments to get rid of them. So, I guess that is okay to lock up anybody just because someone tells you they are guilty.
In reference to driving, no I haven`t driven in 5 years. I take the train to work each day and I ride a bike to take care of the things I need to. I work in Japan I might add.
@carolscash (9492)
• United States
21 Jan 09
I don't believe that Obama is saying that the lives of those killed on Sept. 11th are not important. Guantanamo Bay has been an issue lately as there are reasons to believe that civil liberities are being taken from the prisoners there and that the war trials are not being fairly given. President Obama wants to take the time to investigate things on his own and then he will try them. I believe that it is time to close the base and begin a new era of how we treat prisoners of war crimes and other crimes similar to that.
IF Americans who didn't vote for Obama, will give him a chance to implement some of his policies and give him some time to do the things that he wants to d, they will see that he is the man for the job and that he does know what he is doing.
@xfahctor (14118)
• Lancaster, New Hampshire
21 Jan 09
This is a tricky one. What is more important is what isn't being said, that being where these people will wind up. The most likely scenario is that they will wind up in the federal prison system to await genuine trial, it is unlikely that any of them will be granted bail. So likely they will be in a federal prison, with american prisoners rather than safely surrounded by their one kind, unless isolated from the gerneral prison population. This may well turn out to be a case of "be carefull what you wish for " for them.
@olivebranch56 (910)
• United States
22 Jan 09
Honestly X, If I knew that was what would happen to them, I would say send them today. I know that sounds ugly but it is the truth of how I feel. To me the only thing worse than what these animals did are child molesters and pediofiles. When these men flew those planes into the World Trade Center they gave up any right they have as far as I'm concerned. Thanks for your very thoughtful response.
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@sparkofinsanity (20471)
• Regina, Saskatchewan
27 Jan 09
Although I agree and totally understand your feelings on this Marilyn, I think I'm going to suspend my own take on this for a few days and see what happens. I watched him on tv tonight sign the documents that officially closed Gitmo, and I rather think that his suspension of the trials has more to do with an overhall of the current treatment and policy regarding terrorists than it does with seeming to show disrespect for 9/ll. We have a Canadian currently in Gitmo, and it's going to be interesting to see how our own government handles the closing.....