Re: [Winona] Military Tribunals

[Duane M. Peterson]

The problem I have with your definition of war is that I don't know where you will draw the line.  Our concern needs to be how will we handle similar events in the future.  The constitution states that only the Congress can declare war.  There is also the principle that we can defend ourselves from attack without an official declaration.  We have a history of loosely defining "war" or trying to conduct a war without calling it a war.  We have also conducted wars on drugs, poverty, and many other things.  I think that the temptation to call things a war comes from the feeling that calling something a war will mobilize public opinion in favor of the policy that congress and administrations wish to adopt to tackle the problem.  That would be harmless if it did not implicate other constitutional protections.  We have in the past and are now contemplating the conduct of secret trials using secret evidence.  Maybe it won't actually happen, but the devil is in the details.  ----- Original Message ----- From: Rich Pflughoeft (cPMT) To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Wednesday, November 28, 2001 9:42 PM Subject: RE: [Winona] Military Tribunals While I appreciate the concern that many have expressed regarding this issue, I'm not convinced that everyone believes it to be ridiculous to consider the acts of terrorism against our country to be an act of war.   I realize that there are 'legal definitions' to which I am probably ignorant. What I do know is that our country is faced with coordinated and sophisticated attacks at our citizens. Attacks meant to kill thousands at a time. Perhaps millions. Maybe this doesn't meet everyone's definition of war. It does meet mine.   Rich Pflughoeft -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On Behalf Of Duane M. Peterson Sent: Wednesday, November 28, 2001 3:36 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [Winona] Military Tribunals -Snip-   It is a stretch of logic to declare that the United States is in a state of Armed Conflict.  It is ridiculous to declare that an act of terrorism is an act of war.    [Rich Pflughoeft] -