Originally posted by: Dudd
Originally posted by: DaveSohmer
I would suggest that all of you educate yourselves on what an "enemy combatant" is and the supreme court rulings that pertain to them. As usual the brain trust of ATOT are speaking out their ass from a position of supreme ignorance.
Ah yes, the great DaveSohmer, the stereotypical I-know-what-I'm-talking-about-everyone-else-is-a-moron Republican. For every crazed Berkeley student, we have someone like you. Why shouldn't we demand that our government stays within the bounds of the constitution? Sure, many of those whose rights we are allegedly violating aren't US citizens, so for them, enemy combatant is just another name for POW, except for the fact that they don't have the rights of a POW. However, that's not really my concern. What is my concern is people like Jose Padilla, the alleged 'dirty bomber'. According to a
CNN article dated October 1, he still doesn't have his constitutional rights. He, a US citizen, has been declared an unlawful combatant, and therefore the constitution does not apply to him. No lawyer, no right against self-incrimination, no trial by jury, nothing. That's what scares me. Sure, today it's just an alleged terrorist suspect, but what happens tomorrow when an over zealous prosecuter gets someone else declared an unlawful combatant, and they don't have a thing to do with terrorism? These things don't happen quickly, but by small steps. Bush might feel this is what is needed, but what happens 10 years from now when the next president uses this as precedent for some other, unrelated situation? Some things are worse than death, and setting down the road towards 1984 is one of them.