Isn't this just charming: the UK is considering establishing Secret courts for terror cases. That's “Special anti-terror courts sitting in secret to determine how long suspects should be detained without charge.”
We had to kill liberty and justice in order to save it?
Michael, I still think you live in a parallel universe. Is it something about Yale/Oxbridge culture that creates this weird disconnect from reality?
Special courts for terrorism are exactly what the doctor ordered. I’m not about to hand all the niceties of due process to mass murderers who trample on every civilized convention. This doesn’t drag us down to their level, because they have no “level” to sink to – they are simply scumbags ( to quote a Canadian General named Hillier ).
Your line on here overall reeks of paranoia, smug elitism and a passe “rebel” psychology which you have probably adopted because (by the looks of you) you never had the guts to act out in any kick ass fashion.
This little opinion lab you run is way, way too insular … way too paranoid … and way too abstract.
Get real!
There is no reason why these trials cannot be open.
History teaches us clearly that secret trials and detention without the need to show cause in public lead almost inevitably to oppression.
In any case, as regards the US case, if you believe in either a strict construction of the constitution or in fidelity to original intent, you might consult the Bill of Rights. I imagine it will be quite an education: indeed, a few minutes reading will quickly bring you up to the “Yale/Oxbridge” level.
Mac,
The key words in the post were “suspects” and “held without charge”. No “mass murderers who trample on every civilized convention”. No “scumbags”. Just people who have been informally accused of something.
I hereby accuse you of some sort of involvement (unspecified) with terrorism. Now is it still OK with you if I take away all of your rights, lock you up for years without charge or trial, and hold any hearings related to your case in secret without giving you access to the evidence against you? If so, please consider yourself to be under house arrest for the next five years. Check back with me at that time and I’ll let you know if it’s OK to go outside. No cheating now.
Hysterics … (there are meds for that) 🙂
K here is my last comment on this. I’m off on vacation and I’m going to miss you guys terribly.
We’re in a FIGHT … we’re in a fight we can barely win because lawyers have rigged the rules of war so an army can’t do what armies have always traditionally done, without being dragged off to the Haig to be judged by some cone headed Swede or incoherant German.
Human rights lawyers and their liberal attack gerbils, do NOTHING except try to pull the rug out from under the feet of our troops and patriots on the bases of legislation that is so idealistic it verges on the IDIOTIC – given the present circumstances. I’m tired of hearing about due process and consideration for knaves and villains who USE loopholes in our legislation in an effort to destroy us. On BBC world I listened with jaded cynicism to a British based mullah (prior to the London attack) saying that liberals/liberal legislation was the Achilles hell of the west, and a vulnerability Al Qaeda would seek to ruthlessly exploit … but you starry eyed defenders of the underdog don’t get that, or at least pretend you don’t.
Of course there is always some schmuck defense lawyer ready and willing to hug and kiss these CRIMINALS, many of whom are ON RECORD calling for the destruction of the USA, attacks on American targets etc etc. For example, Shabbir Ahmed, the Pakistani extremist and hate monger who was today denied bail (correctly), issued threats against the USA and praised the 9/11 hari kari operators.
Mojo I don’t suffer from your persecution complex, okay. I have faith in our system. Sure the wrong guy gets nailed occasionally. We’re not in paradise yet dude – it’s called being fallible. But if you are trying to posit some machiavellian notion that the Feds are going to start framing people en masse and using special powers to arrest you and your mother and your great aunt Jemima, then you lose me entirely. A lot of left wing types really are paranoid and delusional. In my line of work I have to deal with them, and at times their ravings leave me speechless. Of course I am predictably viewed as a philistine and subjected to the type of arch condescension Michael is good at … reserved for any and all who don’t talk “from the book” … any who don’t do subscribe to liberal think.
I would hate to have to fight alongside you guys cos I know we would be dead meat. If al Zawqawri were to dispatch some brain washed Saudi rube rigged with explosives, you guys will be agonizing about whether to shoot him or not …( I mean he needs a defense lawyer and due process … maybe he has a starving child waiting at home for Dad to bring home a Big Mac happy meal blah blah blah). Me, I would shoot the bastard in a jiffy, even if I wasn’t sure if he was rigged. The safety and security of my fellow soldiers and our mission comes first.
Compassion really can become pathological. Good intentions can make otherwise intelligent people stupid.
Michael sorry I said mean things about your lack of real life exposure – if you were dressed in leather and wearing a bandana I could actually see you as a member of The Village People! You are quite cute 🙂