The Supreme Court granted the right of habeas corpus to detainees in Guantanamo Bay.
John McCain said this is “one of the worst decisions in the history of this country.”
Detention without being charged. Isolation without rights or advocates. Torture. Are these good decisions?
McCain says combatants should not be given the status granted to citizens; “These are enemy combatants, these are people who are not citizens, they are not and never have been given the rights that the citizens of this country have,” he said. “Our first obligation is the safety and security of this nation and the men and women who defend it. This decision will harm our ability to do that.”
I wouldn’t want America harmed nor its forces weakened, but a candidate for President surely must show more than this simplistic view of power. Where’s his vigor and gumption and ambition to solve challenges rather than bellyache to the choir?
McCain offers nothing but pandering, citing “unaccountable judges” at the Supreme Court and mongering that we are about “to be overwhelmed” with cases from detainees.
We have let little men argue small things.
Habeas Corpus is a fundamental thing, only to determine the legality of imprisonment. Where’s the threat McCain trumpets? A qualified candidate would seek to provide this to all the earth!
A new procedure to deter and hold suspects while affirming the humanity of our nation can be developed, perhaps under the judiciary or combined with the military.
Failure to prove our care for dignity and to eagerly seek to protect the innocent has damaged us very much around the world.
We must be proud that we are a civil nation too.