Wednesday - July 12, 2006

Art Of War

We are going to lose the War On Terror. Why? Because the bleeding heart Liberals, the media, the Angry Left in America and especially the Democratic Party do not want to win the war. It’s all about power. Power in America. Regaining power is the target and nothing will stand in their way - not even a few thousand dead citizens, much less several more thousand dead soldiers, sailors and airmen.

I’ve been here before, you see. Over the last fifty years I’ve watched the power struggle between the Liberals and Conservatives, Democrats and Republicans and every politican in DC ebb and flow, first in one direction and then in another. One thing I have not seen until recently is the complete blindness to our nation’s needs exhibited by the Left, who are on the downswing of the current pendulum.

Here is the way it is supposed to work: some external country or force picks on us, then Congress authorizes the President to wage war. The President then proceeds to carry out his duties as Commander In Chief and orders the military to kick the crap out of the offending parties. The troops then come home, we have a celebration and go back to business as usual. That has been the formula up until recently - and it has worked quite well.

If you carefully examine the above formula, you will notice one branch of our government is missing ... the Judicial Branch. That is because the court has no business to conduct with respect to a war - none whatsoever. Justice Antonin Scalia made note of that fact in his dissent on the recent Hamdan vs Rumsfeld decision. Another group that does not figure into the formula is the press. Both the press and the Supreme Court are supposed to assume a passive role during war - to observe, report and offer mediation if necessary. Other than that, their main job is to stay out of the way.

The President defines the goal and lays out an overall strategy, then tasks the military to accomplish that goal. Congress then allocates funds to allow the military the wherewithal to do as the President orders. Congress is then supposed to also assume a passive role unless more funds are requested or a treaty is offered to end the war. What is so hard to figure out about all that? It should be a no-brainer. It has proven to be highly successful over the last two centuries. Why mess with a winning formula?

The only logical answer to that last question is that you don’t mess with a winning formula unless your intent is to lose. When the Supreme Court stepped into the war and started laying out rules of engagement for the current conflict, they overstepped their authority in clear violation of the separation of powers intent in the Constitution. They are also going to lose the war for us by agreeing to the enemy’s conditions, namely to force our military to fight a “civilized war” under Geneva Convention rules (which have no standing in American courts other than as guidelines) while the enemy is free to use whatever means necessary to accomplish his goals, including the most barbaric behavior imagineable and guerilla warfare on the lowest levels.

Not since the mid-18th century when British troops marched in formation, wearing bright red coats down the road to Concord while American patriots hid in the woods and picked them off one by one have we seen such a disparity between the rules one side fights under and the other. This is madness on a grand scale and the justices of the Supreme Court know it.

So why have they chosen to interfere in the process of waging war? Are they doing it out of purely humanitarian concerns? Do they feel that their meddling will help us win this war? The answers seem to be no and no. Before this madness continues, the Executive and Legislative branches of our government need to reassert their authority and tell the Supremes to sit down and shut up. Passing legislation to give the President authority to conduct tribunals and conduct the war without interference from senile old judges would be a good start. Failing that, all we can do is wait for one or more of the Liberal members of the court to depart this world and hope the President and Congress have the guts to put someone on the bench with a little common sense. For a change.

U.S. Shifts Policy on Geneva Conventions
Bowing to Justices, Administration Says It Will Apply Treaties to Terror Suspects
_{-- (WASHINGTON POST) - Wednesday, July 12, 2006}

The Bush administration has agreed to apply the Geneva Conventions to all terrorism suspects in U.S. custody, bowing to the Supreme Court’s recent rejection of policies that have imprisoned hundreds for years without trials.

The Pentagon announced yesterday that it has called on military officials to adhere to the conventions in dealing with al-Qaeda detainees. The administration also has decided that even prisoners held by the CIA in secret prisons abroad must be treated in accordance with international standards, an interpretation that would prohibit prisoners from being subjected to harsh treatment in interrogations, several U.S. officials said.

The developments underscored how the administration has been forced to retreat from its long-standing position that President Bush be given extensive leeway to determine how to interrogate and prosecute terrorism suspects captured in Iraq, in Afghanistan and elsewhere. Until recently, the White House and Defense Department have pursued such anti-terrorism policies with little interference from Congress and the courts, but that has begun to change.

Since 2002, the administration has contended that the Geneva Conventions would be respected as a matter of policy but that they did not apply by law to terrorism suspects held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, or in U.S. military custody elsewhere. Administration officials have voiced concern that the conventions are too vague and could expose the military to second-guessing about appropriate treatment.

But the Supreme Court rejected that view in a 5 to 3 decision last month, ruling that a Yemeni detainee at Guantanamo Bay could not be tried by a special military commission established by the Bush administration. The court held that the commissions violate U.S. law and the Geneva Conventions.

- More on the story here ...

Posted by The Skipper     on 07/12/2006 at 09:33 AM   
Filed Under: • Judges-Courts-Lawyers • Military •  
• Comments (6) • Trackbacks(0)  Permalink •  

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Not that very many people ever read this far down, but this blog was the creation of Allan Kelly and his friend Vilmar. Vilmar moved on to his own blog some time ago, and Allan ran this place alone until his sudden and unexpected death partway through 2006. We all miss him. A lot. Even though he is gone this site will always still be more than a little bit his. We who are left to carry on the BMEWS tradition owe him a great debt of gratitude, and we hope to be able to pay that back by following his last advice to us all:

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It's been a long strange trip without you Skipper, but thanks for pointing us in the right direction and giving us a swift kick in the behind to get us going. Keep lookin' down on us, will ya? Thanks.

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