These are some of the things George W. Bush and his regime are working to institutionalize and write into the laws of this country:
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People accused of “terrorism” can be tried and convicted on secret evidence withheld from the defendants and their lawyers. As even a Marine Corps general said recently, “I am not aware of any situation in the world where there is a system of jurisprudence that is recognized by civilized people where an individual can be tried and convicted without seeing the evidence against him”.
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Bush wants to write use of torture into the law. CIA operatives
and others would be, as the New York Times reported, “allowed to use
many techniques including stress positions, sleep deprivation, and
extreme temperatures”.
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Bush claims he is shutting down the secret detention sites used
in various parts of the world to “interrogate” – meaning torture and
hold indefinitely – people held on suspicion of terrorism. But Bush
said in his speech on Wednesday that “the “black sites” (secret
prison/torture centers) program could be used again. The secret prisons
“have not been liquidated or closed”, said Michael Emerson, a senior
research fellow at the Center for European Policy Studies in Belgium.
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The “juries” used in the military courts Bush is setting up for
“enemy combatants” would be either 5 or 12 military officers, depending
on whether it was a case that could lead to the death penalty. The
“trial” would be presided over by another military officer.
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Prosecutors in these cases can use classified information that
the defense is not allowed to see, or even to hear about. Prosecutors
can also use hearsay evidence and evidence obtained through torture
(called by Bush “coercion”).
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Not only members of organizations designated as “terrorist” but
anyone deemed to be associated with a “force or organization” engaged
in hostilities against the United States or who “supports hostilities
that aid such groups”. In short, people engaged in political or
humanitarian efforts that are deemed to be supportive of “hostile
activity” could be held in these military run torture chambers and
tried without evidence.
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This includes U.S. citizens. As Barbara Olshansky of the Center
for Constitutional Rights said on the radio program “Democracy Now”,
“the language says an unlawful enemy combatant can be any individual.
And it’s very clear that that means Americans. It can mean anyone in
the world. There is no exclusion, you know, for Americans. And the
language of who can be an enemy combatant has been tremendously
expanded. So it could be, you know, not only al-Qaeda and other
terrorist organizations, but other associated forces and just others
who are unnamed. And it’s any hostile act, not necessarily a military
act. Am I hostile by talking about what’s wrong with this, by sitting
here with you? How are we going to know that? And then I end up in
Guantanamo in a military commission, where the death penalty can
result? This is astounding stuff.”
There are some profound things underway here. Bush is proudly
announcing to the world that not only have U.S. military and
intelligence forces routinely been practicing the torture that has
horrified the world, he is moving to codify – enact into law – measures
which can only be called fascist, and to establish this torture, secret
detention, military kangaroo court, and all of it as new accepted
standards.
Do you expect opposition from the Democrats to anything fundamental
about all this? Then, “you”re looking for a fight that doesn’t exist”,
said Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid. 5 more, 10 more, 15 or 20 more
Democrats in Congress are not going to alter the direction and
trajectory this society and this world are lurching along as the Bush
Regime pursues its horrific, nightmarish agenda.
We live in an extreme time. Yesterday’s outrage is becoming today’s
new normalcy – as long as this regime and everything it is bringing
forward are not driven out. We live in a time that demands bold and creative political activity not bound within the deadly and ever shrinking terms of the Bush agenda and program.
It is going to take massive political opposition – an enormous outpouring of people speaking out with determination, perseverance, and the will not to stop until we succeed – to change the direction the Bush Regime is taking this country and the entire world. If you are looking to fight the latest outrages of the Bush regime, and everything it is doing, then throw your self, your heart, brain, and soul into making October 5 as powerful as it can be; a political message the entire world hears. Join with your local committee or start one if one doesn’t exist, contribute as much as money as you can, let everyone possible know that they to contribute now and to be there October 5.
The time is late. The stakes are high. The need is urgent – THE WORLD CAN”T WAIT!