By Jamilah Hoffman, 1/17/07
The New York Times reported on Saturday:
Charles D. Stimson, the deputy assistant secretary of
defense for detainee affairs, said in an interview last week that he was
dismayed that lawyers at many of the nation“s top firms were representing prisoners at Guantánamo Bay,
Cuba, and that the firms“
corporate clients should consider ending their business ties.
The same point appeared Friday on the editorial page of The
Wall Street Journal, where Robert L. Pollock, a member of the newspaper“s editorial board, cited the list
of law firms and quoted an unnamed “senior
U.S.
official“ as saying, “Corporate C.E.O.“s seeing this should ask firms to
choose between lucrative retainers and representing terrorists”.
In his radio interview, Mr. Stimson said:
I think the news story that you“re really going to start seeing in
the next couple of weeks is this: As a result of a FOIA request through a major
news organization, somebody asked, “Who
are the lawyers around this country representing detainees down there?“ and you know what, it“s shocking. The F.O.I.A reference
was to a Freedom of Information Act request submitted by Monica Crowley, a
conservative syndicated talk show host, asking for the names of all the lawyers
and law firms representing Guantánamo detainees in federal court cases.
After listing the firms listed on the report provided to
Monica Crowley, Stimson said:
I
think, quite honestly, when corporate C.E.O.“s see that those firms are representing the very terrorists who
hit their bottom line back in 2001, those C.E.O.“s are going to make those law firms choose between representing
terrorists or representing reputable firms, and I think that is going to have a
major play in the next few weeks. And we
want to watch that play out.
Care For a Little Hypocrisy?
The Sixth Amendment to the Constitution states that the
accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial
jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed,
which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be
informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the
witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in
his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defense.
Obviously, the Bush regime would rather that not
happen. Otherwise, we might find out
that the majority of men and boys that have been held at Guantanomo
Bay in Cuba have nothing to do with 9/11
or terrorism. We might find out more
information about how detainees are treated. In an article on AlterNet, Marjorie Cohn wrote:
Guantánamo has become the symbol of U.S. hypocrisy. While fighting the
“war on terror” and attacking other countries for their human rights
abuses, the officials in the Bush administration have become war criminals.
Torture and cruel or inhuman treatment are punishable as war crimes under the
U.S. War Crimes Act.
The lawyers who have decided to defend detainees at
Guantánamo believe that defending people, all people, is a hallmark of a
society that calls itself free and democratic. The Bush regime is against all
that. Then add so-called “journalists“ using the Freedom of Information Act, not to expose the
government for its criminal activities, but to out lawyers doing a yeoman“s job, providing pro-bono work
representing clients the Bush regime would label terrorists and that most
lawyers would run away from. And to have these players in the Bush regime
working in tandem to bring down these lawyers is just disgusting.
The Little Things
But it is not just the fact that they are attacking these
lawyers that should alarm us, although that is reason enough. This story highlights another one of those “little things.“ Things that this regime has done
that, separately, appear really bad. But
taken together, paints a sordid picture of just how far this country is on the
road towards fascism. But it“s easy to become accustomed to the
way things are unless you step back and put these things together.
The recent attacks on lawyers representing Guantánamo
detainees comes after the attacks on journalists for exposing the not so secret
bank surveillance program the Bush regime set up. Then, people were saying that newspapers such
as the New York Times were guilty of treason and helping the terrorists. There were also the attacks on artists who
spoke out against Bush“s
illegal and unjust war in Iraq.
Then, the Dixie Chicks were boycotted, were sent death threats and the
president comes out and says they shouldn“t have their feelings hurt if people don“t want to buy their records.
Government scientists can“t
report on data that contradicts Bush“s
view on things such as global warming. People are doing their jobs and when
those jobs conflict with the direction Bush is taking society, the regime does
what it can to bring those people down.
I think it is really easy to get bogged down on the
intricacies of the details and miss the picture as a whole. These attacks on lawyers are just another
attempt by this regime to shift society into a direction that is more favorable
to their fascistic plans and the surprising element is that they are so open
and upfront about it. This gives us the
opportunity to call these people out and increases the urgency to drive out the
bush regime.
An Added Note:
Charles D. Stimson, deputy assistant secretary of Defense
for Detainee Affairs, has since apologized for his comments. He said, “Regrettably, my comments left the impression that I question
the integrity of those engaged in the zealous defense of detainees in
Guantánamo. I do not.“ And, “I
apologize for what I said and to those lawyers and law firms who are
representing clients at Guantánamo. I hope that my record of public service
makes clear that those comments do not reflect my core beliefs.“
Yeah, Right. Not that
it matters though, the damage is already done.
An official in the Bush regime portrayed lawyers representing detainees as
supporting terrorists. You can“t really take that back. And I don“t really believe him anyway.
This was a concerted effort to undermine these lawyers and the fact that
the original story was put out there by different members of the media shows
that these people have no qualms about their behavior as long as it serves
their ultimate goal of smashing any opposition.
What I do know that it was the outrage over his comments
that made him do an about face and issue an apology. And when members of this regime do say
outrageous things, and we can be certain that they will, we need to be
there. Loud and strong, calling them out
and exposing the true nature of their behavior.