This administration has enraged many people with it 's blatant ....well, blatant everything really. And the reason, the excuse, the spin, for a great deal of the blatocracy seems to be "I 'm the Commander-In-Chief in a time of war ".
At war with whom exactly?
One case I read today particularly enraged me. The case of Khaled el-Masri. This guy is a German citizen who went on holiday to Macedonia. Mistaken for someone else, he was picked up by the CIA, strapped face down to the metal floor of a plane with a bag over his head, flown to Afghanistan, imprisoned and interrogated for 5 months with no access to counsel, and finally dumped on a lonely Albanian hillside with no explanation and no charges.
He sued, asking for compensation and an apology. Sounds reasonable. Habeus corpus, false imprisonment, rule of law and all that, right?
The Virginia court threw the case out. Why? Because the administration said the court case might reveal state secrets and the security of the nation took precedence over any personal grievance.
The judge said;
"Mr el-Masri's private interests must give way to the national interest in preserving state secrets".
What state secrets here are they preserving exactly? The fact they screwed up big time and screwed this guy and stole 5 months of his life? What? Please, tell me what?
The judge reasoned;
"In times of war, our country, chiefly through the executive branch, must often take exceptional steps to thwart the enemy."
So this guy was who 's enemy exactly? Please, someone tell me.
President George W Bush has claimed and assumed many powers due to his status as a "War President ".
Suspension of Habeus Corpus
Eavesdropping on American citizens
Breaking the Geneva Conventions
Breaking posse comitatus
Illegal, pre-emptive war on non-aggressor sovereign nations.
Torture
751 Signing Statements indicating exemption from laws passed by Congress.
I don 't want to bore you so I 'll stop there.
To my point. Who has America declared war on?
Afghanistan?
I don 't think so. Currently, Karzhai is holed up in Kabul, propped up by US forces, while most of the country is run by either poppy czars or a resurgent Taliban, sporadically policed by various multinational forces and a corrupt local police force.
Iraq?
You 've got to be kidding.
There 's only one way that the US can possibly be at war with Iraq.
Read the PNAC. Ideal scenario permanent, resource-independent, full-spectrum-dominant bases in the Middle East with secured pipelines direct to Houston.
Hey, if the bases are surrounded by bloated starving children and a moonscape, so much the better. Easier to manage and a lot more profitable for KBR.
The only war they can claim to have declared is one against the Iraqi people. Politically, not an option right now. Build a little more xenophobia, maybe in a few years ....?
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