War Crimes

The AP reports that "the U.S. military has created a global network of overseas prisons, its islands of high security keeping 14,000 detainees beyond the reach of established law."

An American spokesman said that each detainee in Iraq "is detained because he poses a security threat to the government of Iraq, the people of Iraq or coalition forces." Given the US record at Guantanamo, such a statement must be regarded as, at best, flackery; more likely it is simple fiction or even an outright lie.

The AP also reports that the US military has been holding one of its photographers, an Iraqi, incommunicado for five months. Tom Curley, president of AP, said "We want the rule of law to prevail. He either needs to be charged or released. Indefinite detention is not acceptable. We've come to the conclusion that this is unacceptable under Iraqi law, or Geneva Conventions, or any military procedure." Let us hope that Mr. Curley would extend that sentiment to the other 13,999 detainees.

Meanwhile, the President and his band of merry men (and women, too: let's not forget Condi) continue to push their kangaroo courts bill, and reports have surfaced that people on both sides of the fight (that is, Republicans and Republicans) are saying that a compromise may be possible. Funny, when I grew up, the politicians proclaimed that there could be no compromise with tyranny.