Obama to resume jihadi trials at Gitmo resort, liberals dismayed

by Kal El on May 19, 2009 · Comments

The best part is hearing the lamentations of the libturds, who actually bought Obama’s BS about change.

Obama revives terror tribunals, dismaying liberals

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama said Friday he would reform and restart the military tribunals he once reviled for Guantanamo Bay detainees, jeopardizing his timetable for closing the prison by January and dismaying many supporters who suggested he was going back on campaign promises.

Now, after the detainees are given stronger legal protections — a ban on evidence obtained under cruel duress, for example — the trials of 13 defendants in nine cases will be restarted no sooner than September. Five of the 13 are charged with helping orchestrate the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

The rest of the 241 Guantanamo detainees will either be released, transferred to other countries, tried in civilian U.S. federal courts or, potentially, held indefinitely as prisoners of war with full Geneva Conventions rights.

“This is the best way to protect our country, while upholding our deeply held values,” Obama said, announcing his decision to renew the tribunals in a three-paragraph White House statement. The administration said he was not embracing the Bush-era system because it would be so significantly changed.

However, his action was almost instantly denounced by a host of liberal-leaning groups that championed his presidential campaign last year.

“In one swift move, Obama both backtracks on a major campaign promise to change the way the United States fights terrorism and undermines the nation’s core respect for the rule of law,” said Amnesty International executive director Larry Cox.

“There is no such thing as ‘due process light,’” said American Civil Liberties Union executive director Anthony D. Romero.

“As a constitutional lawyer, Obama must know that he can put lipstick on this pig — but it will always be a pig,” said Zachary Katznelson, legal director of Reprieve, a London-based legal action charity that represents 33 Guantanamo detainees.

Full article here.

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  3. Shocker: ANOTHER released GITMO jihadi back in the fight
  4. Obama blames Gitmo for Al Qaeda’s rise in the Arabian Peninsula
  5. Obama says 9/11 jihadi could get the death penalty, then waffles
  6. Gitmo jihadi released, rejoins Taliban
  7. Liberals: Another American atrocity at Gitmo
  8. Despite Overwhelming Opposition, First Gitmo detainee arrives in US
  9. Chinese Muslim inmates at Gitmo to be freed in U.S; China won’t take them
  10. Infamous terrorist – and convert to islam – The Jackal, thanks Obama for closing Gitmo
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  • SirWilhelm
    I think you're missing the substance of this decision. Only 13 of the defendents are going to be tried by the tribunals, and under their stronger legal protections, they stand a good chance of being aquited. The other 241, even if held indefinitely, will be held as POWs under the Geneva Convention. I'm not sure what rights that does give them, but it's more than they have now as non-uniformed combatants. If they are tried, it will be in US Fed Courts, I think that would give them the same rights as US citizens. It looks to me like Obama is getting his way, while looking tough to the right and the media. Is he really fooling them, or are they feigning outrage, while laughing behind their backs at all that are falling for this trick?
  • JEWHAWK
    This is the result of a 200 mph,head-on collision between the leftist FANTASY and
    the raw REALITY.
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