Glenn Greenwald/The Omar Khadr travesty

[azurnoir]

<snip>

Military commissions were one of those Bush/Cheney policies which provoked virtually universal outrage among progressives and Democrats back in the day when executive power abuses and rule of law transgressions were a concern. The Obama administration's claim that the commissions are now improved to the point that they provide a forum of real justice is being put to the test -- and blatantly failing -- with the first such commission to be held under Obama: that of Omar Khadr, accused of throwing a grenade in 2002 which killed an American solider in Afghanistan, when Khadr was 15 years old. This is the first trial of a child soldier held since World War II, explained a U.N. official who condemned these proceedings. The commission has already ruled that confessions made by Khadr which were clearly obtained through coercion, abuse and torture will be admitted as evidence against him. Prior to the commencement of Khadr's "trial," the commission ruled in another case that the sentence imposed on a Sudanese detainee Ibrahim al-Qosi -- convicted as part of a plea bargain of the dastardly crime of being Osama bin Laden's "cook" -- will be kept secret until he is released. What kind of country has secret sentences

Jennifer Turner is with the ACLU's Human Rights Project and is observing these proceedings at Guantanamo. Read what she wrote and decide for yourself if "drug testing" is needed more for those who draw comparisons between Bush and Obama, or for those who angrily insist such comparisons are outrageous:

<snip>

A fellow observer of the military commissions here, former Marine judge and law of war expert Gary Solis, here to monitor the commissions for the National Institute for Military Justice, says he has presided over 700 courts-martial and has never heard of a secret sentence. . . .

<snip>

In closing arguments before the judge's ruling, Khadr's sole defense lawyer, Lt. Col. Jon Jackson, told the judge, "Sir, be a voice today. Tell the world that we actually stand for what we say we stand for."

Though President Obama promised that coerced evidence would not be used against detainees in the military commissions, today's ruling suggests that as a country, we stand for abusing a 15-year-old teenager into confessing, and using those confessions against him in an illegitimate proceeding.

http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/glenn_greenwald/2010/08/11/khadr/index.html

[pmorlan1]

1. K & R

Thanks for posting

[IndianaGreen]

2. K&R

He was a child soldier, age 15. Way to go USA!

[1955doubledie]

3. K&R

[Jefferson23]

4. The military commissions are a hideous joke and they are a much useful

tool to continue to expand and deepen anti-American sentiment. If that's what they want, keep it up.