Tuesday, October 17, 2006

Is Military Commissions Act a fitting memorial to the 9-11 victims?

George Bush today signed into law the Military Commissions Bill. He said he did it 'in memory of the victims of the September 11 attacks'. How can he know that the victims of those attacks would want this Act in their memory? Have their families unanimously approved it?

American Civil Liberties Union Executive Director, Anthony D. Romero said:

The president can now, with the approval of Congress, indefinitely hold people without charge, take away protections against horrific abuse, put people on trial based on hearsay evidence, authorize trials that can sentence people to death based on testimony literally beaten out of witnesses, and slam shut the courthouse door for habeas petitions.

Is this really something we can say that all, or even the majority, of the many and varied victims of the September 11th attacks would have wanted..an infringement of the traditional civil rights celebrated by the USA?

There is an old saying that when you start reducing civil liberties in the name of fighting terrorism then the terrorists have won.

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