Posted on 06/18/2008 6:21:12 AM PDT by RaceBannon
Obama advisers say bin Laden can appeal to U.S. civilian courts
Barack Obama has expressed support for the Supreme Court’s decision in favor of civilian prosecution of terrorism suspects, and his advisers said Tuesday that if Osama bin Laden were captured, he too should face civilian prosecution. – AP Bill Sammon, The Examiner 2008-06-18 07:00:00.0 Current rank: # 13 of 6,452
WASHINGTON - Barack Obama’s foreign policy advisers said Tuesday that Osama bin Laden, if captured, should be allowed to appeal his case to U.S. civilian courts, a privilege opposed by John McCain.
Responding to questions from The Examiner, Sen. John Kerry and former White House counterterrorism czar Richard Clarke said bin Laden would benefit from last week’s Supreme Court decision giving terrorism suspects habeas corpus, the right to appeal their military detention to civilian courts.
“If he were to be brought back,” Clarke said of bin Laden, “the Supreme Court ruling holds on the right of habeas corpus.”
Kerry, who applauded the Supreme Court ruling, said it will be carried out by whichever candidate wins the presidency.
“The Supreme Court of the United States has ruled that they have those rights,” he said. “If John McCain were president, he would have to give them those rights.”
Randy Scheunemann, McCain’s senior foreign policy adviser, said those rights should not be extended to bin Laden or the hundreds of terrorism suspects being held by the U.S. military at U.S. Naval Base Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
“The individuals we hold at Guantanamo are very, very dangerous people,” Scheunemann said. “To give them full access to the federal courts and the criminal justice system is fraught with danger, moving forward, and likely to make America less safe, unlike Senator Obama’s claim of supporting the decision that it made America safer.”
On Monday, Obama applauded the civilian prosecution of terrorists before the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
“In previous terrorist attacks — for example, the first attack against the World Trade Center — we were able to arrest those responsible, put them on trial,” he told ABC. “They are currently in U.S. prisons, incapacitated.”
Obama said President Bush has relied too heavily on military prosecution of terrorists, which has “given a huge boost to terrorist recruitment in countries that say, ‘Look, this is how the United States treats Muslims.’ ”
Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani said Obama wants “to take a step back to the failed policies that treated terrorism solely as a law enforcement matter, rather than a clear and present danger. Barack Obama appears to believe that terrorists should be treated like criminals — a belief that underscores his fundamental lack of judgment regarding our national security.”
The attack sounded familiar to Kerry, who was the Democratic presidential nominee four years ago.
“This is exactly what they tried to say back in 2004, and the record absolutely contradicts it,” Kerry told The Examiner. “Every Democrat voted to go to war and attack the Taliban and al Qaeda, the people who attacked us. That is not a [legalistic] approach.”
bsammon@dcexaminer.com
Examiner
Barack Obama has expressed support for the Supreme Court’s decision in favor of civilian prosecution of terrorism suspects, and his advisers said Tuesday that if Osama bin Laden were captured, he too should face civilian prosecution. – AP Bill Sammon, The Examiner 2008-06-18 07:00:00.0 Current rank: # 13 of 6,452
WASHINGTON - Barack Obama’s foreign policy advisers said Tuesday that Osama bin Laden, if captured, should be allowed to appeal his case to U.S. civilian courts, a privilege opposed by John McCain.
Responding to questions from The Examiner, Sen. John Kerry and former White House counterterrorism czar Richard Clarke said bin Laden would benefit from last week’s Supreme Court decision giving terrorism suspects habeas corpus, the right to appeal their military detention to civilian courts.
“If he were to be brought back,” Clarke said of bin Laden, “the Supreme Court ruling holds on the right of habeas corpus.”
Kerry, who applauded the Supreme Court ruling, said it will be carried out by whichever candidate wins the presidency.
“The Supreme Court of the United States has ruled that they have those rights,” he said. “If John McCain were president, he would have to give them those rights.”
Randy Scheunemann, McCain’s senior foreign policy adviser, said those rights should not be extended to bin Laden or the hundreds of terrorism suspects being held by the U.S. military at U.S. Naval Base Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
“The individuals we hold at Guantanamo are very, very dangerous people,” Scheunemann said. “To give them full access to the federal courts and the criminal justice system is fraught with danger, moving forward, and likely to make America less safe, unlike Senator Obama’s claim of supporting the decision that it made America safer.”
On Monday, Obama applauded the civilian prosecution of terrorists before the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
“In previous terrorist attacks — for example, the first attack against the World Trade Center — we were able to arrest those responsible, put them on trial,” he told ABC. “They are currently in U.S. prisons, incapacitated.”
Obama said President Bush has relied too heavily on military prosecution of terrorists, which has “given a huge boost to terrorist recruitment in countries that say, ‘Look, this is how the United States treats Muslims.’ ”
Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani said Obama wants “to take a step back to the failed policies that treated terrorism solely as a law enforcement matter, rather than a clear and present danger. Barack Obama appears to believe that terrorists should be treated like criminals — a belief that underscores his fundamental lack of judgment regarding our national security.”
The attack sounded familiar to Kerry, who was the Democratic presidential nominee four years ago.
“This is exactly what they tried to say back in 2004, and the record absolutely contradicts it,” Kerry told The Examiner. “Every Democrat voted to go to war and attack the Taliban and al Qaeda, the people who attacked us. That is not a [legalistic] approach.”
bsammon@dcexaminer.com
Examiner
Before he gets bombed by a drone? Don’t think so.
Dead people can’t appeal to anything.
If this doesn’t kill his chances, nothing will
I suspect, then, that Obama won’t be captured.
Don't just stand there, get Obama to say this too so he can't back away from it so easily.
Sadly, you are right. I've said before that what if someone made the same argument on Osama's behalf in the year 2041? They would say, just like Obama does, that "what happened 40 years ago doesn't matter anymore."
Of course, if the terrorists make it over the border, McCain is OK with giving them amnesty.
Here are the Senators who voted against the Cornyn amendment , which would have established a permanent bar for gang members, terrorists, and other criminals looking to snag a shamnesty visa. Republicans underlined:
Unbelievable!
Behold the “Winnie the Pooh” policy makers at work .... Johnny Mac needs to grab onto this one with both hands and run with it.
Of course, the only sane result from the Supreme Court’s insane ruling is to take no prisoners. Shoot them on the spot. It will save a lot of time and money.
“the plane didn't fit, therefore you must acquit!”
sarc/
“Johnny Mac needs to grab onto this one with both hands and run with it.”
You are soooooo right about this!
I think we should immediately rush to trial a top terrorist detainee. Before the general election.
Let the trial turn into an absolute Democrat comedy when the Islamofascists take it over with their chants, praises to Allah and “Bushisms”. Make it an absolute circus.
Then let’s see how quickly the Democrats rush to defend “their rights”.
I would bet that ANY captures high value target will remain a military secret until he has been thoroughly questioned and then quietly executed.
If he's brought back, President Bush should have him hung from the South Portico of the White House, and leave the carcass there to rot.
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If he's brought back, President Bush should have him hung from the South Portico of the White House, and leave the carcass there to rot.
Incredible. Do these people not realize the difference in focus between criminal prosecution and military action? That is, criminal prosecution is largely concerned with punishing acts which have already occurred and can be proved beyond a shadow of a doubt while military action is concerned with preventing future acts of war. While you can punish through the court system attempts at crimes and conspiracies, it is largely ineffective to prevent future acts. Try calling the cops if you suspect a crime will go down soon.
So now we have an assurance from the Obama Campaign that when my city is nuked and I am reduced to a shadow on the wall, the attackers will be prosecuted to the extent of international law. How comforting.
‘jus like an american gang banger.
/s
If he’s caught by ground troops, I hope someone has the foresight to put a bullet in his brain. Otherwise, we’ll have 5 years of pity parties in the US courts and media.
Yeah. It's BRush's fault. Now all the terrorist want to stay at Club Gitmo.
Let The Idiot keep talking.
Personally, I'd treat those muslims a lot differently, something on the order of the treatment they gave Daniel Pearl or Nick Berg.
This is the opening gambit to allow detainees to sue the US for millions upon millions of dollars.
Lawyers will get rich -— just like the tobacco lawyers.
Taxpayers will be hit hard. It will tie up the courts forever -— but hey, we’ll get more and more multi-millionaire lawyers.
Do you recall in the early days after 9-11, when Phil Donahue went on BOR and pleaded that instead of going to war with AQ in Afghanistan that we should “send in some international police to arrest the perpetrators”?
I think these loony libs want to replace all military action with ordinary police efforts and fight the WOT by sheer force of the badge, which of course strikes utter fear in the hearts of the most hardened terrorist.
A piece of lead takes less effort.
bookmark
Thanks for the ping, Race.
This guy might interest you...
Other entities deserving inclusion would be global media outlets (al Jazeera, the BBC, CNN), militias (Hamas, Hezbollah, the Mahdi Army, the Taliban), political parties, religious institutions and movements, terrorist organizations (al Qaeda), drug cartels,...
...more from visionary /SARCASM Richard N. Haass...here...
http://www.foreignaffairs.org/20080501faessay87304/richard-n-haass/the-age-of-nonpolarity.html
On the other hand worms find them appealing.
The “Free Mumia” crowd will glom on to him.
I am convinced that Muslim extremists see in B Hussein Obama a return not just to the failed policies of Clinton, but the disasters of Jimmy Carter. As such, I think they will, should B Hussein Obama be elected, launch an attack on a US interest within days of an Obama inauguration.
Sort of the inverse of Iran releasing US hostages in the days immediately before Reagan took office.
I'm going to throw up now
He's a plant. He's doesn't put his hand on his heart (it's NOT automatic to him), he makes a big deal--like he's proud NOT to wear a pin representing all this Country has gone through, he spends over 20 years in a church that teaches their young that white people are bad, AND he spent a good deal of his youth being brought up Muslim. Don't be fooled!
Maxine Waters will write a letter explaining why he shouldn’t be extradited.
Defending his Muslim brothers I see. I read recently that terrorists now figure the benefit to hitting us isn't worth the trouble they'll get for doing it.
Too bad you can only hang the guy once...(and Bush just might be the only Pres with the huevos to do so)...I’d like him to go on “tour” around the nation.
EXACTLY\\I am too certain that Obama is here to destroy this country and he right now is the biggest threat to our survival and the security of this country.
every time I see an Obama sticker though it’s not many here where I live thank Goodness I question the person about his racist church, his friendship with bill Ayers, his typical white people comment or his greedy white folk comment, or even n his small town America comment.
Most have never heard about them all they have heard is change, change change
point out Hitler changed Germany, the communist changed eastern Europe they just look dumbfounded
One never even knew about his friendship with Bill Ayers and thought I was making it up
Obama voters have to be the most dumbest voters this country has ever produced
Ah, something tells me that John Kerry is about to lose another election!
Seriously, what kind of crap is the Obamessiah trying to pull when he talks about change, and then picks foreign policy advisors who backed the Iraq War, and in one case (Clarke) gave us the best ratiale for invading by assessing that bin Laden would “boogie to Baghdad” if he lost his current digs?
Obama would probably like to sit down with Osama and ask him why he hates us so much, and what can he and we as a country do to repair our relationships with radical islam. I can hear Obama now, “Osama, can’t we all just get along.”
bumper sticker
Osama for Obama
at least this slogan is true unlike the libs who lie with theres.
Hamas has said they want him Hizbullah has said they can work with him, Irans leader has said he would be good for America
speaks volumes when our enemies are rooting for him and some simpletons in this country do not see it
That’s the way it works best...the terrorists know to prey on the ignorant and the stupid.
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