Another Gitmo official quits

November 25th, 2009, 9:36 am · 1 Comment · posted by by Alan Bock, Register editorial writer

Even though Phillip Carter is a former WaPo staffer, this story on him resigning as asst. SecDef for detainee affairs doesn’t even pretend to try to dig for possible deeper reasons for the resignation, contenting itself with the official boilerplate about “personal and family reasons.” Whatever the reason — and once in a great while in politics the cover story is the real story — his resignation is bound to complicate Obama administration efforts to close Guantanamo and reorient detainee policies. Coming on top of Greg Craig’s resignation, it suggests (not for sure maybe, but suggests) that administration detainee policy is in disarray. As if things weren’t complicated enough already by the decision to try KSM and the others in a civilian court. I approve that decision (though multiple hypocrisies remain in administration policy) on the ground that if the government wants to run everything through the military on a wartime basis, it ought to declare war; otherwise it’s giving us the worst of both worlds: ad hoc repression and violation of liberties and aimless prosecution of military activities. But there’s little question the decision is unpopular and will complicate all future efforts to figure out how to handle detainees.

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Orange Punch bloggers write from a particular libertarian point of view. We’re dedicated to advancing human freedom and believe that the primary role of government is to defend Americans’ liberties. We seek a smaller, more limited government, expanded and freer trade at home and abroad, open markets and secure property rights. We believe in the power and goodwill of the individual; that he or she will aspire to a better tomorrow for themselves, for their family and for the community. We would hope for people to exercise integrity and self-responsibility along the way. The bloggers are Alan Bock, Brian Calle and Mark Landsbaum. The genesis of this particular brand of libertarianism is R.C. Hoiles, founder, Freedom Communications, Inc., parent company of the Orange County Register.

Tolens says:

November 25, 2009 at 6:56 pm

It does have the smell of a show trial. It is unprecedented in the sense that there is no well established and inarguable due process for crimes committed by foreigners on foreign soil. It is not a crime at all during war to bomb civilian, non-military targets. We did that in WWII with a vengeance. We did it again in later wars, lately Kosovo. Not as widespread, but still a precedent. So what are they going to be charged with? Doing what we have done ourselves? Doing it without uniforms on? According to the Geneva Convention, they can put them to death for that, but can a civilian court can do that? Will they be charged with that even? If not, then what is their crime? Conspiracy? What is that and how is that a crime under what statute?

Appeal to International law? From what I have heard International law is a set of traditions interpreted differently depending on not well built case law, but on the political fashions of the times and participants.

Just the framing of the charges against them can open avenues of legal debate for clever lawyers. Debate that is not necessarily silly either. It is entirely possible that one possible outcome is that they are prisoners of war, to be kept confined until cessation of hostilities — for life essentially.

It just seems to me that putting this in a civilian court opens up many possible paths that expose the Federal prosecutors as inept and unprepared for this level of law, and expose Federal judges for their shallow political prejudices rather than the rule of law, making any guilty verdict appear arbitrary. The intellectual lightweight Sotomayor made it onto the Supreme Court in a breeze. The standards for Federal judges are not high.

I hope I am wrong.

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