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Trying times
Guantanamo detainees should get military trial due to 'enemy combatant' status
By: Nicholas Davis
Issue date: 4/26/04 Section: Opinion
Other opponents assert that denying detainees the same treatment Americans enjoy is inhumane or that it goes against constitutional rights. Such an argument is not only unfounded but dangerous.
Here's the harsh truth. These detainees are not U.S. citizens, so they have no rights, including the right to a trial. If the court extends rights to non-citizens, especially terrorists, a Pandora's box effect could manifest allocating a new weapon to terrorists: the exploitation of the courts.
How much will it cost taxpayers for these degenerates to obtain proper council, opportunities for appeals, preparation time, access to witnesses, etc.? Individual cases could go on for months, perhaps even a year. More importantly, what happens if terrorists get off on trivial technicalities? How many precedents will be established in their favor?
Recall, these "enemy combatants" were not picked up at a shopping mall, the grocery store or a PTA meeting. U.S. soldiers captured them on the battlegrounds of Afghanistan where they definitely weren't helping our troops fight the Taliban. To the contrary, they desired to kill American soldiers, and they would love to see many Americans suffer. And now these individuals demand privileged rights? Too bad! Remember, they declared war on the United States several times in the 1990s and most recently on 9-11.
Indeed, these combatants must receive a trial, but not because they deserve one. These men should be afforded a trial only to illustrate that America doesn't imprison people arbitrarily; justice must be exercised.
Still, federal courts are not the correct venue for the trial. Neither is an international court. Americans died capturing these men, and Americans should judge them.
The appropriate measure is to try the detainees in a U.S. military court, outside U.S. sovereignty. According to an article published by the Harvard Journal of Law regarding the Cuban detainees, a military trial is "morally, politically and legally justified."
The Bush administration claims it will hold such trials, but has yet to establish a time period. This is unacceptable. Pressure must be placed on the president to specify a time period for military trials to transpire. If it's a year from now, fantastic. If it's three to five years, so be it. Just set the date. There is no rush, though, for truly the world does not miss these men and their debauchery.
Here's the harsh truth. These detainees are not U.S. citizens, so they have no rights, including the right to a trial. If the court extends rights to non-citizens, especially terrorists, a Pandora's box effect could manifest allocating a new weapon to terrorists: the exploitation of the courts.
How much will it cost taxpayers for these degenerates to obtain proper council, opportunities for appeals, preparation time, access to witnesses, etc.? Individual cases could go on for months, perhaps even a year. More importantly, what happens if terrorists get off on trivial technicalities? How many precedents will be established in their favor?
Recall, these "enemy combatants" were not picked up at a shopping mall, the grocery store or a PTA meeting. U.S. soldiers captured them on the battlegrounds of Afghanistan where they definitely weren't helping our troops fight the Taliban. To the contrary, they desired to kill American soldiers, and they would love to see many Americans suffer. And now these individuals demand privileged rights? Too bad! Remember, they declared war on the United States several times in the 1990s and most recently on 9-11.
Indeed, these combatants must receive a trial, but not because they deserve one. These men should be afforded a trial only to illustrate that America doesn't imprison people arbitrarily; justice must be exercised.
Still, federal courts are not the correct venue for the trial. Neither is an international court. Americans died capturing these men, and Americans should judge them.
The appropriate measure is to try the detainees in a U.S. military court, outside U.S. sovereignty. According to an article published by the Harvard Journal of Law regarding the Cuban detainees, a military trial is "morally, politically and legally justified."
The Bush administration claims it will hold such trials, but has yet to establish a time period. This is unacceptable. Pressure must be placed on the president to specify a time period for military trials to transpire. If it's a year from now, fantastic. If it's three to five years, so be it. Just set the date. There is no rush, though, for truly the world does not miss these men and their debauchery.
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