Meet the New Boss ... ! "Obama Administration on Detention Policy: What He Said"

The Washington judge charged with deciding whether four detainees in Afghanistan can have their day in court gave the Obama administration nearly a month to distinguish its views on detention from President Bush's. In a court filing Friday, President Obama's lawyers declared that the new policy is the same as the old one :

This Court's Order of January 22, 2009 invited the Government to inform the Court by February 20, 2009, whether it intends to refine its position on whether the Court has jurisdiction over habeas petitions filed by detainees held at the United States military base in Bagram, Afghanistan. Having considered the matter, the Government adheres to its previously articulated position.

The stance adheres to the Bush administration's theory of a global battlefield, where "enemy combatants" can be detained indefinitely even if they're far away from any traditional battlefield, and even if they're not directly engaged in hostilities. It stretches an argument that Bagram, a military base leased from the Afghan government, is significantly different from Guantanamo, where the Supreme Court determined last summer that habeas corpus applies.

Source: ProPublica.com
www.propublica.org...

This (not entirely unexpected) decision reaffirms the fears of human rights activists and civil rights lawyers who worry that the new administration's review of terrorism policies will lead to changes only in rhetoric.

Remember when Obama signed two executive orders on his second day in office, pledging to close Gitmo's prison within a year and banning torture? All Talk. Just like the rest of his promises and pledges. Sooner than later now, Obama’s supporters will see him for the consummate politician he is at heart, rather than the apostle of Change, angel of Hope.

Unfortunately, it's probably too late, as his radical, socialist and racially- motivated policies take both shape and effect.

Compared to the tone set by Obama during his campaign , supporters should find room for disappointment. It's one thing to say that “we're going to close Guantanamo in a year," but another to say that they’re going to close Guantanamo, but not going to change any policies on holding people without charges and denying them access to courts.


Look what you've done to my Country.

Deny ignorance.

jw


[edit on 23-2-2009 by jdub297]

[edit on 23-2-2009 by jdub297]