Centerblue.org

Despite Bush’s every effort to try having the Senate enact his autocratic version of a bill for interrogating and trying terrorist suspects–even going to Capitol Hill himself yesterday–a small group of GOP Senators (Collins, Warner, Graham, McCain) is standing firm and refusing to let the administration trample the Geneva Conventions.

The issue is simple, really. Either we obey the provisions of the Geneva Convention and the rule of law, or we do not. Bush thinks that the “war on terror” gives him license to suspend just about every right that America holds dear (habeas corpus, right to speedy trial, right to know the evidence arrayed against you, right not to be tortured). It seeks to interpret the Geneva Convention in conformity with its wishes. These Senators understand that the Conventions apply to everyone, and that our failure to observe them undermines our moral high ground in the war on terror. It would also place our troops in jeopardy since our failure to adhere will give license to other countries to also not do so.

Conservative blogs such as this one are outraged at the “turncoats,” not being able to grasp why the Geneva Conventions and the Constitution might apply to terrorists.

Let’s see if we can describe it in language easy enough for them to understand: the war on terror is either a war, or it’s not. If it’s really a war, then the Geneva Conventions apply as against prisoners of war and its human rights requirements must be followed. Terrorists want to kill us no more and no less than any nation’s soldiers at war with us would want to do so, and their being terrorists does not exempt them from basic human rights accorded all prisoners of war. Spare me the blather that they’re different because they target civilians; there’s a list of of innocent women and children a mile long in Iraq who’ve been killed by American bombs (not to mention incidents like the My Lai massacre in Vietnam). We are America, not Taliban Afghanistan; we do not maim and torture regardless of the reason or intent of our enemies.

In regards to constitutional rights, not all terrorists are foreign nationals, some of them are Americans. For those that are, the Constitution does not distinguish between Americans in its granting of basic rights. All of our rights are threatened with extinction once we start to pick and choose who among us is entitled to the Constitution’s protections and who is not. Today it’s them, tomorrow it’s us–at the whim of a Chief Executive with no checks on his power. We can streamline warrant requirements, allow for better emergency response, make things faster, allow for quicker judicial review, weigh the benefits vs. burdens of intrusions on our privacy, and adopt other measures to fight terrorism…but we cannot give the president unlimited license to interpret, grant, and remove constitutional rights as he sees fit.

This is not about appeasement, not about being soft on terrorists. It’s about not forgetting we are all Americans and there are some values that cannot be given up without surrendering who we are as a nation.

It’s good to know there are still some Republicans out there with enough sense to oppose the autocratic madness oozing out of the White House these days.

Dick Cheney was sent to Capitol Hill today to try whipping Republicans into accepting Bush’s proposals on surveillance and military tribunals. I can’t help but wonder whether Cheney will call his fellow GOP’ers unpatriotic “appeasers of terrorists” for refusing to give Bush the blank check he’s looking for.

Bush is seeking legislation that would:

• provide immunity from prosecution to interrogators who “mistreat” (a/k/a torture) detainees;
• allow an alleged terrorist defendant to be convicted with hidden evidence to which he has no access;
• give legal status to Bush’s warrantless surveillance efforts, despite their running afoul of the Fourth Amendment.

Republican Senators like Collins, Warner, McCain, and Graham thankfully remember that this is America, not Taliban Afghanistan. You simply do not convict anyone in this country or in any advanced democracy without so much as letting him know what evidence is laid out against him. You do not give license for interrogators to torture anyone. You do not wipe your ass with the Constitution.

I may want Republicans out of power because I believe they’ve lost their ability to lead…but I respect these Senators for understanding their current role as the last bastion against a White House that seems bent on pulling this country down into fascism.