Gautam Mukunda wrote: > Because we are _at war_. But I thought the war was over in Afghanistan and Iraq....And in the former, especially, rapid progress in nation buliding was going on - things on which future text books would be written. So perhaps it's time to try the detainees.
> We didn't give German POWs > trials. We didn't give North Korean POWs trials. We > were _at war_. Yes, but what happened when the war was declared over? > These people were captured _on the > battlefield_. Because they weren't declared > combatants, they actually have _fewer_ rights than > POWs. True enough, but even non declared combatants have a right to be tried by an impartial tribunal. > Yet the American government is supposed to worry about > the rights of _Americans_ first. That's its job. I > suppose that you, Erik, would have nice public trials > on all of these guys, with lawyers, and published > transcripts, and maybe the names and faces of CIA > informants published? That's what a full trial would > require, after all. Um, why? As you have said, the detainees were captured on battlefield in Afghanistan - what intelligence agents are you going to endanger by establishing a case for detention? Ritu _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
