Monday, October 8, 2018

There's A Reason For the Gitmo Upgrade

Last summer there were reports that the  US wants to spent as much as $500 million to upgrade the prison facilities at Guantanamo Bay. The Trump administration has already encumbered $200 million to be spent for the project this year. Rumors abound regarding the justification for these expenditures, one of which is the prediction that military tribunals will provide the human fodder to fill Gitmo prison cells. This is based on a Presidential Executive Order signed into effect on 1 March 2018 that updated and clarified the US Code of Military Justice (USCMJ), clearing the way for Nuremberg style tribunals.

The use of military tribunals is nothing new.
The establishment of military tribunals by presidential order, although rare, is well-established in the United States. Military tribunals first came into existence during the war with Mexico in 1846 but saw their greatest expansion during the Civil War. Less than one week after the firing on Fort Sumter, President Lincoln authorized the suspension of habeas corpus, allowing military authorities to arrest and detain anyone suspected of aiding and abetting the rebellion and to detain such individuals indefinitely without bringing them before a civilian court and charging them with a crime.
Such individuals were removed from the jurisdiction of civil courts and placed under the jurisdiction of the military, which tried them by military tribunal. By the end of the war, about 5,000 trials involving more than 15,000 civilians had been held. Controversy swirled about the embattled Lincoln and his orders limiting civil liberties, but Lincoln held fast.
[...]The military tribunal reached its height following the assassination of Lincoln on Good Friday, April 14, 1865. Lincoln was shot fatally by John Wilkes Booth while attending a play at Ford's Theater in Washington. Beginning on April 17 and ending with the death of Booth on April 26 at the hands of Union cavalry, eight of the 10 individuals charged by the government for Lincoln's murder were arrested.
 Lincoln Assassination Plotters, July 7, 1865
[...]As the eight defendants sat in jail awaiting their fate, President Andrew Johnson issued an executive order on May 1, 1865, placing the accused under the jurisdiction of a military tribunal. Justification for the military tribunal had been spelled out earlier in an opinion issued by Lincoln's attorney general, James Speed. Speed's argument can be reduced to two essential points: The defendants were characterized as enemy belligerents, and they were charged with offenses that were violations of the laws of war.
The stage has been set.

Since 14 September 2018 the US has been at war as authorized by Act of Congress under the Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF). There are over 55,000 sealed federal indictments awaiting action. I believe some of them are bound to involve actions of parties that have conspired to overthrow a duly elected President.

How can they be classified as enemy combatants? IMHO, follow the DNC money trail and follow the machinations of Barack Obama and Valerie Jarrett.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Please scribble on my walls otherwise how will I know what you think, but please don’t try spamming me or you’ll earn a quick trip to the spam filter where you will remain—cold, frightened and all alone.