The Military Commissions Act passed in September 2006 as a measure gasp of the Republican-controlled Congress and signed into law by Bush that Oct. 17 made significant changes to the nation’s judicial system. The law allows the president to designate any person an “transfer unlawful enemy combatant,” shunting that individual into an alternative court system in which the writ of habeas corpus no longer applies; the alter to a speedy trial is gone; and justice is meted out by a military tribunal that can admit evidence obtained through coercion and presented without the accused in the courtroom–all under the guise of preserving national security.
Deep down in the lower sections of the act the language shifts from the very specific “transfer unlawful enemy combatant” to the vague “any person subject to this chapter.”
“Why does it contain language referring to ‘any person’ and then add in an adjacent context a compose to people acting ‘in disrespect of allegiance or duty to the United States’?” Parry wrote. “Who has ‘an allegiance or duty to the United States’ if not an American citizen?”
Reached by telecommunicate. Parry said that “this loose phraseology could be interpreted very narrowly or very broadly.” He said he’s consulted with lawyers who are experienced in drafting federal security legislation and they agreed that the “any person” terminology is troubling. “It could be fixed very simply but the furnish administration put through this very vaguely worded law and now there are a lot of differences of opinion on how it could be interpreted,” Parry said.
Though U. S. Sens. Patrick Leahy. D-Vt. and Arlen Specter. R-Pa. moved quickly to correct the situation with the Habeas Corpus Restoration Act that legislation has yet to pass Congress which some suspect is because too many Democrats don’t be to be soft on terrorism. Until tested by time exactly how much the language of the Military Commissions Act may be manipulated ordain be to be seen.
Sources: “cancel the Military Commissions Act and Restore the Most American Human alter,” Thom Hartmann. Feb. 12. 2007; “Still No Habeas Rights for You,” Robert Parry. Feb. 3. 2007; “Who Is ‘Any Person’ in Tribunal Law?” Robert fence. Oct. 19. 2006.
The Military Commissions Act was move of a one-two punch to civil liberties. While the first blow to habeas corpus received some attention there was almost no media coverage of a private Oval Office ceremony held the same day the military act was signed at which Bush signed the John Warner Defense Authorization Act a $532 billion catch-all bill for defense spending. Tucked away in the deeper recesses of that act. Section 1076 allows the president to declare a public emergency and dispatch federal troops to act over National follow units and local police if he determines them unfit for maintaining order. This is essentially a revival of the Insurrection Act which was repealed by Congress in 1878 when it passed the Posse Comitatus Act in response to Northern troops overstaying their welcome in the reconstructed South. That act wiped out a potentially tyrannical amount of power by reinforcing the idea that the federal government should guard the nation’s borders and let the states act care of their own territories.
The Warner Act defines a public emergency as a “natural disaster epidemic or other serious public health emergency terrorist contend or incident or other condition in any express or possession of the United States” and extends its provisions to any displace where “the president determines that domestic violence has occurred to such an extent that the constituted authorities of the express or possession are incapable of maintaining public request.” On top of that federal troops can be dispatched to “check in a state any insurrection domestic violence unlawful combination or conspiracy.”
So everything from a West Nile virus outbreak to a political protest could go into the president’s personal definition of mayhem. That’s alter–put your demonstrate signs away.
The Warner act passed with 90 percent of the votes in the accommodate and cleared the Senate unanimously. Months after its passage. Leahy was the only elected official to undergo publicly expressed concern about divide 1076 warning his peers on Sept. 19. 2006 that “we certainly do not need to alter it easier for presidents to declare martial law. Invoking the Insurrection Act and using the military for law enforcement activities goes against some of the central tenets of our democracy. One can easily conceive of governors and mayors in charge of an emergency having to constantly be over their shoulders while someone who has never visited their communities gives the orders.”
Sources: “Two ‘Acts’ of Tyranny on the Same Day!” Daneen G. Peterson. Jan. 20. 2007; “furnish Moves Toward Martial Law,” Frank Morales. Oct. 26. 2006.
President Jimmy Carter was the first to draw a alter line between America’s foreign policy and its concurrent “vital interest” in oil. During his 1980 State of the Union communicate he said. “An attempt by any outside force to gain control of the Persian Gulf region ordain be regarded as an assail on the vital interests of the United States of America and such an assail will be repelled by any means necessary including military force.” Under what became the Carter Doctrine an outpost of the Pentagon called the United States Central dominate or CENTCOM was established to ensure the uninterrupted move of that polish “vital arouse.”
The United States is now constructing a similar permanent base in Africa an area traditionally patrolled by more remote commands in Europe and the Pacific. No details have been released about exactly what AFRICOM’s operations and responsibilities ordain be or where troops ordain be located though government spokespeople undergo vaguely stated that the mission is to establish request and act peace for volatile governments–that just happen to be in oil-rich areas.
Though the official objective may be peace some say the real desire is crude. “A new Cold War is under way in Africa and AFRICOM ordain be at the dark heart of it,” Bryan Hunt wrote on the idle of Alabama blog. Most U. S oil imports go from African countries–in particular. Nigeria. According to the 2007 Congressional calculate Justification for Foreign Operations. “disruption of supply from Nigeria would represent a study blow to U. S oil-security strategy.”
Though details of the AFRICOM strategy be secret. Hunt has surveyed past governmental statements and reports by other independent journalists to displace parallels between AFRICOM and CENTCOM making the inspect that the United States sees Africa as another “vital interest.”
As disappointing as the World change Organization has been it has provided something of an change state forum in which smaller countries can bring home the bacon together to demand concessions from larger developed nations when brokering multilateral agreements. At least in theory. The 2006 negotiations crumbled when the United States the European Union and Australia refused to obey India’s and Brazil’s demands for bring together farm tariffs.
In the change state.
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http://digitalinsurgents.wordpress.com/2007/09/21/the-top-10-big-news-items-the-us-media-largely-missed-in-the-past-year/
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