Habeas corpus denied now also to “enemy non-combatants”
Adam Gadahn, a 28-year-old US citizen and a member of the Moslem faith believed to be living in Pakistan, was sentenced to death on Oct 11, 2006 by US Deputy Attorney General Paul J. McNulty through a charge of treason. In addition, a one million USD reward for Gadahn’s head was advertised by a secretive private NGO located in the United States. In addition to the above actions, Gadahn was placed on the FBI’s 10 most wanted list.
It would sound like Gadahn is a very dangerous person! In the entire history of the US, charges of treason has only been even alleged about 30 times and the charge has not been used since shortly after World War II. Yet McNulty was quoted in the Washington Post as stating “the government has no information indicating that Gadahn was involved in planning or carrying out terrorist attacks.”
Let me repeat that quote from the US Department of Justice again “the government has no information indicating that Gadahn was involved in planning or carrying out terrorist attacks.” So why is Gadahn carrying a million dollar price tag on his head today? And who is the secret US NGO offering this bounty? Last things first. According to their site www.rewardsforjustice.net:
“The Rewards for Justice Fund is a “non-governmental, non-profit 501 (c) (3) charitable organization created and administered by a group of private American citizens.” According to their site, they “provide a classified report to Congress each time a reward is paid under this program.” In short, their activities are secret and not available to the public. But their advertising is very public indeed! They brag that their rewards program reaches “subscribers (read bounty hunters) in more than 150 countries. By advertising our rewards over the internet, we seek to get our message into State Sponsored countries without censorship.”
So why was Gadahn placed on Bush’s private hit list? Mr. Gadahn had the nerve to put his anti-Bush views on the web. Simple as that. Well, not quite that simple. Mr. Gadahn video-taped his anti-Bush views over a network alleged to be controlled by al Qaeda. There’s no proof that his views are sponsored by any particular organization and again the reader is directed to the US Department of Justice statement: “the government has no information indicating that Gadahn was involved in planning or carrying out terrorist attacks.”
Mr. Gadahn has tortured no one, murdered no one and has not even been involved in planning or carrying out “terrorist attacks”. On the reverse side, Mr. Bush has tortured thousands of people and has murdered several hundred thousand people, most of them women and children.
The reasons Mr. Gadahn is on Bush’s private hit list are:
1. Mr. Bush has all but lost his war in Iraq. (Read 25,000 US casualties for nothing)
2. The November 06 Mid-term US elections may result in Bush’s loss of control of finances to conduct his imperialist policies.
3. By any international standard, Bush himself is a war criminal.
Although the charges against Gadahn are an obvious attempt by Bush to divert attention from his failures, these charges also serve to provide a warning by the Bush administration to anyone who dares to become very visible in their opposition to Bush. There are millions of people who are opposed to Bush’s imperialist policies, but those who become very visible are very much threatened. The Military Commissions Act does not exclude US citizens from its provisions.
Secondly, Mr. Bush ran into some domestic political opposition to his new “Military Commissions Act” passed by Congress in October 2006. This Act provides for the elimination* of habeas corpus for anyone designated an “enemy non-combatant” by Bush, and it also provides a legal means by which a Bush “detainee” may be tortured by the CIA. In short, via the “Patriot Act”, anyone whom Mr. Bush designates can be “detained”, tortured and executed. And not least importantly, the Military Commissions Act excludes** anyone from being charged with war crimes resulting from torture of prisoners. Again, in order to divert domestic and world attention from this amazing departure from justice, Mr. Gahdan was nominated as Bush’s new poster boy. The very audacity of the charges against Gahdan may indicate just how much trouble Mr. Bush finds himself to be in.
Bob Linderholm, USA
* Elimination of habeas corpus: The reason given to me by Senator Ben Nelson (United States Senator) for the necessity of denying habeas corpus to Bush designated detainees is: (Email Nelson, 10-17-06 4:06pm EST) ” I believe civilian judges are not adequately knowledgeable about the rules of war…” A copy of this email is available upon request.
** No person may invoke the Geneva Conventions or any protocols thereto in any habeas corpus or other civil action or proceeding to which the United States, or a current or former officer, employee, member of the Armed Forces, or other agent of the United States is a party as a source of rights in any court of the United States or its States or territories. [Act sec. 5(a)]
For further information regarding the Military Commissions Act, see Wikipedia.
