BernieHund: The Political Watchdog

The first military tribunal at Guantanamo began today.  To say it is the most hypocritical excuse for justice anyone in this nation has ever conceived is a gross understatement.  These proceedings are yet another blotch on the history on the United States of America.  Thank you, George Bush.

According to Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, in testimony before Congress, when asked about Gitmo responded, “We are stuck.”  Perhaps, if there is anyone that is in any way, shape or manner connected with the present administration who seems to have an iota of decency and commonsense, Robert Gates may well be that person.

As the tribunal began the five defendants rejected the legitimacy of the court.  All have dismissed their appointed attorneys.  Kahlid Sheikh Mohammed, understanding that he is facing the death penalty said that he would welcome martyrdom.

Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who was captured in Pakistan in 2003, dismissed the trial as an “inquisition”.

He said he had had five years “under torture” and wished to become a martyr.

“That is what I want, I’m looking to be a martyr for long time,” Khalid Sheikh Mohammed replied

According to news reports on evening television, the proceedings were relayed on closed circuit television to a select few reporters.  However, according to Carol Rosenberg of the Miami Herald who was watching the proceedings at times when the subject of torture was brought up, the screen filled with white noise and then silence.  When the subject of drugs was brought up, as it pertained to getting information from the defendants, again there was white noise that overshadowed the words of the defendants then silence.

On the subject of torture, specifically waterboarding

Mr Binalshibhis a Yemeni man described by the US as the co-ordinator of the 9/11 attacks, who, according to intelligence officials, was supposed to be one of the hijackers, but was unable to get a US visa .

He also told the court he wished to be “martyred”.

“I have been seeking martyrdom for five years,” he said.  

Following his arrest he was held at a CIA secret prison, where he was subjected to harsh interrogation techniques and a practice known as waterboarding, that simulates drowning, until he was moved to Guantanamo Bay two years ago.

The five defendants appeared together, only one being shackled to the floor.

Appearing alongside Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and Mr Binalshibh are:

• Mustafa Ahmad al-Hawsawi, a Saudi man said by US intelligence officials to be one of two key financial people used by Khalid Sheikh Mohammed to arrange the funding for the 11 September hijackings
• Ali Abd al-Aziz Ali, also known as Amar al-Balochi, who is accused of serving as a key lieutenant to Khalid Sheikh Mohammed - his uncle - during the 11 September plot
• Walid Bin Attash, a Yemeni national who, according to the Pentagon, has admitted masterminding the bombing of the American destroyer, USS Cole, in Yemen in 2000, which killed 17 sailors, and is who is accused of involvement in the 11 September 2001 attacks

The charges against the defendants are as follows:

The charges against them list “169 overt acts allegedly committed by the defendants in furtherance of the September 11 events”.

The charges, which include 2,973 individual counts of murder - one for each person killed in the 9/11 attacks - are the first directly related to the 9/11 attacks to be brought against any Guantanamo inmates.

The tribunals have raised serious questions about our justice system.  That goes without saying.

The US authorities say they have bent over backwards to make sure that the trials are fair but some of its own lawyers have already condemned the process as fundamentally flawed.

Human Rights Watch, a New York-based organisation, says the system lacks credibility given much of the evidence had been obtained through harsh interrogation techniques.

Later this month, the US Supreme Court is to rule on the rights of prisoners being held at Guantanamo Bay, threatening a possible delay or even halt to the proceedings.

The court ruled in 2006 that an earlier tribunal system was unconstitutional.

Whether the Supreme Court rules to stop the kangaroo court from continuing this travesty that spits in the face of everything America stands for… stood for… before the present administration led by Dick and the Decider, or whether the tribunals continue, we as American citizens know it is wrong.  It is wrong to keep people isolated without representation for two or three years before moving them to Gitmo.  It is wrong to take detainees, enemy combatants, prisoners… human beings called by any name or label… it is wrong hold anyone in cages without access to representation.  And, even if Attorney General Michael Mukasey will not define waterboarding as torture, we, as Americans know that it is torture.   

Our country was founded on principles.  Our present administration has ignored those principles.  Our President has made a mockery of everything the United States stands for, not just before the American citizens, but before the world.  George Bush and Dick Cheney have created one of the darkest chapters in American history.  They have denied the principles of our founding fathers.  They have piece by piece and bit by bit not only destroyed America before the world, they have cut deeply into the principles by which we, as citizens, have been taught to live.

The present United States administration and government has condemned countries near and far for holding courts that did not meet our standards, for persecuting dissidents, for locking away without representation those who have taken up arms against a government.  Yet, today, America has shown the world that we are the hypocrits of the universe.  We have shown the world that we are “above the law” of any land.  To hear one more politician invoke God to bless this country in light of today’s actions is nothing short of blasphemy.  We have tossed out all our blessings by acting in ways that are nothing short of the Inquisition.

Let us hope that the eight men and one woman who sit on our Supreme Court will find the courage of conviction to stop these proceedings.  In the future, may someone somewhere call Bush and Cheney on their acts against humanity.  The disgrace of our nation’s actions today is on their hands, as is the blood of the thousands of innocent Iraqi’s who have died to satisfy their Napoleonic egos and fantasies.  This is the legacy of the Bush administration.