I think that when we take an oath we, as soldiers and officers, swear to protect the constitution — with our lives as necessary — and those constitutional values and laws that make us free and make us a democracy. And when we have one branch of government that intentionally deceives another branch of government in order to authorize war, and intentionally deceives the people in order to gain that public support, that is a grave breach of our constitutional values, our laws, our checks and balances, and separation of power… The constitution was established, and our laws are established, to protect human rights, to protect equal rights and constitutional civil liberties. And I think we have people in power who say that those laws, or those principles, do not apply to them — that they are above the law and can do whatever it takes to manipulate or create laws that enable them to do whatever they please. And that is a danger in our country, and I think the war in Iraq is just one symptom of this agenda. And I think as soldiers, as American people, we need to recognize this, and we need to put a stop to it before it’s too late.
In other news: “FBI agents documented more than two dozen incidents of possible mistreatment at the Guantanamo Bay military base, including one detainee whose head was wrapped in duct tape for chanting the Quran and another who pulled out his hair after hours in a sweltering room.”
Does this honestly surprise anyone, anymore? We’ve got a quasi-secret military prison where we’re currently housing dozens or hundreds of terrorists enemy soldiers enemy combatants, without access to counsel, family, or the outside world. If there were a case built against any of these men, they’d see their day in court. The absence of any proceedings whatsoever is a testament to the lack of evidence the State must have against these individuals. As Kip has noted before, the arrangement at Guantanamo is one in which those who are least likely to be guilty, or who are altogether innocent, are the most likely to suffer indefinite imprisonment as unlawful combatants.
One commenter is fearful: “If you just authorize in a vague way, there’s no end to the abusive methods the interrogators will come up with.” Unfortunately, the detainee abuse is only a symptom of the problem.
