Posted by Jonathan Adler:
It's Official: Kindler, Gentler Military Commissions:
http://volokh.com/archives/archive_2009_05_10-2009_05_16.shtml#1242484548
Across a range of issues, the Obama Administration is discovering that
setting national security policy and balancing the relevant trade-offs
[1]is more difficult than it appeared when President Bush was in
charge and then-Senator Obama and his advisors could take policy
positions without any responsibility for implementing them. The latest
is the announcement that the Administration [2]will revive military
commissions, albeit with some additional protections for defendants.
Administration officials said they were making changes in the
system to grant detainees expanded legal rights, but critics said
the move was a sharp departure from the direction President Obama
had suggested during the campaign, when he characterized the
commissions as an unnecessary compromise of American values.
In a statement, Mr. Obama noted that the country had a long
tradition of using military commissions, and said the changes would
make the tribunals, to be used along with federal courts, a fairer
avenue for prosecution. �This is the best way to protect our
country, while upholding our deeply held values,� Mr. Obama said.
The commissions are run by the Pentagon under a 2006 law passed
specifically for terrorism suspects, in part to make it easier to
win convictions than in federal courts. The Obama administration
suspended the military commission system in its first week in
office.
[3]Insert snark here.
Meanwhile, what does it say that the Administration has resurrected or
maintained the core elements of so many Bush Administration national
security policies while OLC nominee [4]Dawn Johnsen sits in limbo? And
would the Administration's policies be any different were she already
confirmed?
References
1. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/16/us/politics/16obama.html
2. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/16/us/politics/16gitmo.html
3.
http://opiniojuris.org/2009/05/15/i-cant-wait-to-see-neal-katyals-argument-in-defense-of-military-commissions/
4.
http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/05/in-limbo-dawn-johnsens-nomination-stalls-thanks-to-democrats.php
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