jimray posts:
“Terrorists should not be treated like common criminals in federal court. These detainees are enemies of the state, and should be treated as such by being held and brought to justice right where they are — in Guantanamo Bay.”
— Representative Jerry Lewis (R-CA), criticizing a Democratic play to [transfer suspected enemy combatants from Guantanamo to the United States to stand trial]
It occurs to me that this kind of thinking is exactly backwards – nothing would be more humiliating to a terrorist than to be treated like a common criminal. We need to stop treating these people as if they’re some kind of team of super-villains ready to sow havoc on the U.S. at a moment’s notice. It’s not Lex Luthor or an evil genius Bond villain that we’re up against here – these people are barely literate, delusional and fueled by a misappropriation of religion and blind hatred of a worldview too complicated for them to understand. If that sounds familiar to people like Representative Lewis, it’s probably because it’s also an apt description of the extreme of his own party.
This is exactly right. Why the GOP and many average citizens seem to think our justice system simply cannot handle criminals “like this” is beyond me. A series of regular old trials (and, presumably: convictions and sentences) is precisely how to prevail in this situation over the long haul. We lose when we’re seen to dispatch with our whole system of government because it’s expedient or just more convenient. That dissolution of our government and, by extension, our ability to tinker in world events abroad, is precisely the object of their desire. Bring Osama bin Laden and his associates before the bench, one by one, just like any other common criminal. Nothing would undermine their entire worldview more.
Lemkin 