not nearly 1984, but hey, we're working on it
Heard this (audio link, relevant bit is at 1:50) on NPR yesterday:
"There may be many instances in which a person could not properly be charged with a crime, or a crime under the ordinary criminal code couldn't be proven, but where protecting the safety of the country requires that that person be removed from the battlefield and taken out of circulation and held pursuant to military authority." (Bradford Barenson, White House counsel 2001-2003)
This is talking about Al-Marri, a man arrested in Peoria, Illinois in 2001, and who's been held in solitary confinement in a military prison (without due process) since 2003. Ah, yes, so now the battlefield is 'wherever we want it to be.'
Hearing this a day after watching Children of Men was particularly disheartening.
"There may be many instances in which a person could not properly be charged with a crime, or a crime under the ordinary criminal code couldn't be proven, but where protecting the safety of the country requires that that person be removed from the battlefield and taken out of circulation and held pursuant to military authority." (Bradford Barenson, White House counsel 2001-2003)
This is talking about Al-Marri, a man arrested in Peoria, Illinois in 2001, and who's been held in solitary confinement in a military prison (without due process) since 2003. Ah, yes, so now the battlefield is 'wherever we want it to be.'
Hearing this a day after watching Children of Men was particularly disheartening.