May 20th, 2009
Posted by Suzanne Ito, ACLU at 4:57pm	Torture

Watch It: Obama Speech on Guantánamo Military Commissions Thursday Morning

Tomorrow morning at 10:10 a.m., President Obama will deliver a "major national security speech" from the National Archives in Washington, D.C. We're expecting more details on his plans to revive the unfixable military commissions.

ACLU Executive Director Anthony Romero said in a statement last week:

These military commissions are inherently illegitimate, unconstitutional and incapable of delivering outcomes we can trust...

Despite the administration's efforts to improve the system, the only explanation for reviving it would be to accommodate the damage that has already been done by the Bush administration's policies of torture, illegal detention and denial of fair trials.

We implore President Obama to not allow failure beget more failure. Close Guantánamo, and end the military commissions once and for all. Move the detainees' cases to federal courts, where true justice can be rendered.

Permalink |	Torture

Tags: Close Guantanamo

1. r clark Says:
   May 20th, 2009 at 5:54pm

   the ACLU loves to stir the shit pot & protect all the guilty.
   These people are mad.
   It's time the org. was put to sleep before more innocent people die.

2. DocG Says:
   May 20th, 2009 at 7:16pm

   "Guantanamo should be returned to Cuba. The base there serves no purpose and never did serve a purpose -- other than military intimidation, bullying and posturing. But the prison at Guantanamo does serve a purpose. Obama's decision to close it is one of the dumbest things he's ever done. Return the base and make a deal with Cuba to lease the prison. . ."
   from http://amoleintheground.blogspot.com/

3. marty tavenner, veteran Says:
   May 20th, 2009 at 7:42pm

   show the prisoneer abuse photos juxtaposed to abortion photos and let the public decide what's torture.

4. gezzer Says:
   May 21st, 2009 at 7:32am

   I strongly agree with the statement ... We are Americans... We don't torture. It does not matter whether torture worked or did not work. The point is the Constitution was violated & International laws were broken.

   We do not torture, and torture is a crime, not a technique . If you want to work for a government and want to torture someone, you need to find another country. Government employees take an oath to uphold the U.S. Constitution. If you are a government official and torture someone, you have failed your oath to defend the U.S. Constitution and you have broken the law. We do not need or want people working in our government that conducted torture.

   There is no way anyone can respect the CIA if it rewards torture interrogators with their job. Abscense of morality in any government agency will not result in respect, ether now or in the future. This controversy is not about legal opinions & the CIA its about the CYA mentality of the Bush Administration.

   At the Nuremberg trials in 1946, the U.S., England, and France decided that just taking orders is not excuse for torture. Concentration Camp commander's defended their actions as just taking orders. No doubt Nazi lawyers declared their actions both necessary and legal under German Third Reicht Law. At Nuremberg in 1946, the decision by the U.S., France, and England was unanimous, that a person is responsible for their own actions. No orders or shadow legality is a defense against a complete loss of morality. The trials at Nuremberg set the standard. Just taking orders does not give anyone, not even an American, the right to torture another person . We do not want our country to have Nazi morality standards.

   I hope we still have today as much moral strength as our fathers that fought WWII to save our country and save our Constitution. If government officials today trash our Constitution to gain immediate ends, then we have lost any meaningful difference between our enemies and ourselves.

   We are America, and We don't torture. Our Constitution and our morality are worth far more than any information obtained from torture. The ends do not justify the means . The Bush Administration motives may have been honorable but their actions were criminal !

   We should also keep in mind that who knew what & when is irrelevent & who did what and when during the Bush Administration is what is important ! This is a diversion from asking the important questions. Wake up America before it's to late ! !

   We are Americans, and We don't torture. NO IF ANDS OR BUTS ABOUT IT ! See title 18 sec. 241 & 242 if you do torture, this is what you can expect from the law. Also see sec. 2441 war crimes . Eventually the US Government will have to do the right thing and bring all those involved in this criminal behavior to justice ! NO ONE IS ABOVE THE LAW ! Then & only then can we put this dark pain full period behind us & move forward .

5. DaveOwens Says:
   May 21st, 2009 at 8:03am

   Seeing as how those detained in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba are NOT American citizens, but actually self acclaimed enemies of our country: Furthermore, they are not inside this country, and never have been, they do not fall under the protection of our Constitution. This makes the only place for them to be tried a military tribunal. This cannot be unconstitutional, because it does not fall under the jurisdiciton of our constitution, so it does not break it's rules. When you try to extend the constitution to the rest of the world, you weaken it for the rest of us.

6. marty tavenner, veteran Says:
   May 21st, 2009 at 8:47am

   show the photos juxtaposed to beheading photos of their wives/sisters/daughters and let the people decide what torture is.

7. Givemeabreak Says:
   May 22nd, 2009 at 2:33am

   DaveOwens, every person regardless of what country they are from deserve human rights. They deserve to be treated with dignity and respect. They deserve to be treated fairly. It's about morals, it's about honor, it's about doing the right thing. Those who can administer or even support the use of torture on another human being and still walk away with a clear conscienceness have fooled themselves. They have fooled themselves into feeling good about a very bad, horrible thing.

8. Paen Says:
   May 22nd, 2009 at 2:07pm

   The right loves to argue that torture is justifiable because the terrorists are so evil but how does sinking to their level make you any better?

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