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On the terror bill
October 19, 2006 ( politics )
This is seriously bad stuff. It also appears that Fox news is now writing material for the BBC:
President George W Bush has signed into law a bill that sets standards for the interrogation and prosecution of foreign terror suspects held by the US.The law aims to enshrine defendants' human rights, but still restricts their right to challenge their detention.
It follows a Supreme Court ruling in June that military tribunals set up to prosecute detainees at Guantanamo Bay violated US and international law.
A US spokesman said preparations would now begin to try Guantanamo suspects.
At a ceremony in Washington, Mr Bush said it was a rare occasion when a president signed a law that he knew would save American lives.
"I have that privilege this morning," he said, calling the Military Commissions Act "one of the most important pieces of legislation in the war on terror".
'Fair trials'
The president said the Central Intelligence Agency's programme of questioning terror suspects had proved invaluable, and the new law would reinforce this.
The Military Commissions Act, he said, would allow the CIA "to continue to question terrorists and save lives", adding: "It complies with the spirit and letter of the US's international obligations."
The law also set out a system of special tribunals, which would give defendants a fair trial, Mr Bush said.
Sorry, I think I must've missed the memo, when did closed military tribunals, dropping habeus corpus, and defining which torture methods could be used become a positive thing, showing our progress and fairness?? I was hoping for the article to end in some acerbic british wit, damning Bush with faint praise, but it's attempt to show "the other side" is pitiful.
Posted by griffjon at October 19, 2006 08:23 AM
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