Isolating Cheney?deepening rifts in the administration

[jbfam4]

Isolating Cheney?
The White House change of mind on Padilla is another sign of the deepening rifts in the administration over detainees’ rights

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10183319/site/newsweek/

WEB-EXCLUSIVE COMMENTARY
By Michael Hirsh
Newsweek
Updated: 4:22 p.m. ET Nov. 23, 2005


Nov. 23, 2005 - The Justice Department’s abrupt decision to indict alleged “dirty bomber” Jose Padilla-after keeping him in legal limbo for three-and-a-half years-is the best evidence yet that the cracks inside the Bush administration over detainee treatment are growing into serious chasms. And Vice President Dick Cheney may have just fallen into one of them.



Lawyers involved in the cases say the administration is deeply worried because its approach to detaining and interrogating suspects is under attack and falling apart. Early in its battle against terror, the administration decided to detain and interrogate suspects at Gitmo as a way of freeing itself of any obligation to treat them according to U.S. laws. It also declared the president’s right, in a series of memos, to near-absolute power in conducting his war on terrorism.

But as the Padilla case and ongoing prison abuse scandal show, the legislative and judicial branches have since pushed back hard. In 2004 the Supreme Court ruled that Gitmo prisoners and suspected terrorists must be allowed access to the American justice system to contest their detention. McCain and Graham, with broad bipartisan support in the Senate, angrily criticized the administration's lack of clarity in interrogation and detention policies. Even some U.S. military prosecutors have called the Pentagon's Gitmo commissions a sham, with two of them resigning from the tribunal office in protest.

“The administration made several assumptions in creating this detention system in the war on terror,” said one military lawyer who spoke on condition of anonymity. “One, the courts will not review it. Two, it will not be internally challenged by military attorneys. And three, Congress will not get involved, because it is hopelessly divided and it will not want to be seen as challenging the president’s role in the war on terror. Now every one of those assumptions has turned out wrong. They’re at the scramble point.”


Gonzales, at a news conference this week, would not say why that
Officials say that, with the U.S. judicial system engaged in the issue, the administration now must figure out how to charge detainees based on evidence that might have been obtained through unconstitutional means, including alleged interrogation abuse. Padilla is named a co-defendant in the cases of some of the nine Gitmo detainees now slated to be charged before the military commission. And if the charges against him don’t hold up, those cases may be in trouble as well

[spindrifter]

1. The sooner the Bushco

redresses the wrongs of Guantanamo, the black sites and the Padilla case, the better. The entire world is watching.

[pushycat]

4. Yes, the world is watching. Let them see the public does NOT

want leaders who step outside the law.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1213194,00.html

This entire Iraq debacle has done us in for a long time. The quicker it turns back the less our country will bleed. For the past YEAR the torture question has loomed larger, yet our Congress has done nothing to stop it. The news won't tell us the truth here, but the rest of the world's news does. We look so stupid, torturing human beings in the name of national security. Can't say it enough how damn stupid that is.

[ninkasi]

5. In addition to

torturing human beings in the name of national security, we also preach practicing human rights to other countries. How the world must laugh at our hypocrisy, in this new era Bush has brought about. They hate us or have contempt for us, but none want to be like us anymore.

[NMDemDist2]

2. one can hope, since he's the evil genius behind the curtain n/t

[tulsakatz]

3. excellent article!!

Thanks!

[cliss]

6. Cheney has been in the news a lot lately....

and he's probably not happy about that. I think Cheney prefers to be in the shadows, making his deals out of public view.

Right now, it's clear Cheney is fighting for his political life. He's had many decades to perfect his skills.

The problem is, right now the tide is turning. And it's a huge tsunami, building up right outside the White House. I know he can't fight it, but jeez it's enjoyable to watch him struggle.