The Fifth Amendment guarantees United States Citizens that they will not be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law. Throughout history, the United States has a strong tradition of upholding the Fifth Amendment by granting due process of law to every United States citizen apprehended under suspicion of terrorist activities.
That tradition ended June 9th, 2002, with the apprehension of Jose Padillia.
After his plane landed in Chicago, police apprehended Padillia on suspicion of planning to detonate a “dirty bomb” in a crowded public area, and took him into custody. Upon hearing about the apprehension, President Bush gave Padillia the status of “enemy combatant” and had him transferred to a military prison.
For twenty-one months, Padillia was denied access to legal council. For more than three years, Padillia sat in prison with no charges against him. During his detention, Padillia’s condition of treatment could be best described as sub-humane.
The fact that Padillia, a United States citizen, was held without any charges filed against him is atrocious. The President’s ability to bypass the Fifth Amendment by merely attaching the label of “enemy combatant” to any detainee gives the President powers that no individual branch, let alone actor, should be endowed with.
More than the alleged threat that Iraq presented the United States with, more than the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, this is the greatest threat presented to the American people. This is the single greatest act of terrorism towards the American way of life. While the terrorists who attacked the World Trade Center deprived thousands of Americans of their lives, the assertions of power made by the executive administration maintain a constant threat to the American people.
The actions of the president of the United States are nothing short of tyrannical.
It could be true that Padillia is in fact a threat to the United States, that he was making contact with and receiving training from terrorist cells, and that he planned to detonate a “dirty bomb.” It may be possible that he deserves the type of treatment he is receiving. This is irrelevant. What is relevant is that as an American citizen, he has the right to an attorney, starting from the time he is apprehended. What is relevant is that he has the right to a fair and speedy trial. What is relevant is that only the supreme court should have the right to decide whether Padillia’s imprisonment is constitutional, and thus legal, not the president.
This is not a matter of partisanship. This is a matter of protecting American values. This is a matter of winning the war on terrorism on the home front by not allowing the tactics used by those we fight against to be used by our leaders against us.
2 comments:
Bryan, I don't know if you have checked out John Doe #2. They make an interesting case for Pidilla being John Doe #2 in the Oklahoma City bombing. Something like this might explain why he has been smuggled away with no contact with anyone. The Ok. City bombing never made much sense to me. An ex-army man turned mass murderer hanging out with a friend that has Al-Quaida connections in the Philippines. The depth of cover up in all the latest madness is incredible. The more you look into it the deeper it goes. I hope you won't get bogged down in the minutia of the arguments that are fed us by the media. It's no coincidence that the latest O.J. travisty was instigated, propagated, denounced and later cancelled by agents of Rupert Murdock. Create a problem, manage the problem and then offer to solve said problem.
It's downright scary when you sit and think hard about it. It's scarier still that a large portion of the United States population, albeit a shrinking one, thinks this is perfectly fine.
You bring up a good point in your second-to-last paragraph. We must not stoop to the terrorists' level.
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