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Wednesday, August 02, 2006

Here's how the American police state will be built
Posted by Jill | 10:56 AM
This is the most profoundly anti-American act ever considered by a sitting President:

A draft Bush administration plan for special military courts seeks to expand the reach and authority of such "commissions" to include trials, for the first time, of people who are not members of al-Qaeda or the Taliban and are not directly involved in acts of international terrorism, according to officials familiar with the proposal.

The plan, which would replace a military trial system ruled illegal by the Supreme Court in June, would also allow the secretary of defense to add crimes at will to those under the military court's jurisdiction. The two provisions would be likely to put more individuals than previously expected before military juries, officials and independent experts said.

The draft proposed legislation, set to be discussed at two Senate hearings today, is controversial inside and outside the administration because defendants would be denied many protections guaranteed by the civilian and traditional military criminal justice systems.

Under the proposed procedures, defendants would lack rights to confront accusers, exclude hearsay accusations, or bar evidence obtained through rough or coercive interrogations. They would not be guaranteed a public or speedy trial and would lack the right to choose their military counsel, who in turn would not be guaranteed equal access to evidence held by prosecutors.

Detainees would also not be guaranteed the right to be present at their own trials, if their absence is deemed necessary to protect national security or individuals.

An early draft of the new measure prepared by civilian political appointees and leaked to the media last week has been modified in response to criticism from uniformed military lawyers. But the provisions allowing a future expansion of the courts to cover new crimes and more prisoners were retained, according to government officials familiar with the deliberations.


In other words, the Administration is preparing to set up a kangaroo court for sham trials in which defendants have no way to defend themselves. And Donald Rumsfeld will decide what "crimes" warrant the removal of due process. Let me reiterate from this article:

A draft Bush administration plan for special military courts seeks to expand the reach and authority of such "commissions" to include trials, for the first time, of people who are not members of al-Qaeda or the Taliban and are not directly involved in acts of international terrorism,


So who are the people likely to be tried in such courts, if they are not terrorists? How about dissidents, liberals, bloggers who write entries like this one, people who hold up signs at presidential appearances, people who march against Bush's warmongering, people who support candidates opposed to Bush's policies, reporters who write articles embarrassing to the Administration and their publishers who print them, and so on and so on and so on.

In short, anyone who does not march in lockstep with the Administration can be locked up upon word from Donald Rumsfeld and held in an Administration gulag indefinitely, without trial, and when trials DO take place, they will be sham trials designed to produce a predetermined result.

If this legislation becomes law, then all is truly lost. We will have become the very kind of dictatorship we give lip service to wanting to overthrow elsewhere.

At least now we know the purpose of those internment camps Kellogg Brown and Root is contracted to build.

And wingnuts wonder why we call this Administration fascist?
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