WASHINGTON (Jan. 2) - A reported U.S. plan to keep some suspected terrorists
imprisoned for a lifetime even if the government lacks evidence to charge them in courts
was swiftly condemned on Sunday as a "bad idea" by a leading Republican senator. (I
agree it is a VERY BAD IDEA)

The Pentagon and the CIA have asked the White House to decide on a more permanent
approach for those it was unwilling to set free or turn over to U.S. or foreign courts, the
Washington Post said in a report that cited intelligence, defense and diplomatic officials.
(Have these guys ever heard of the 6th Amendment?)

Some detentions could potentially last a lifetime, the newspaper said. (Lifetime detention? It could happen to you.)

Influential senators denounced the idea as probably unconstitutional. (Probably? It is definately unconstitutional)

"It's a bad idea. So we ought to get over it and we ought to have have
a very careful, constitutional look at this," Republican Sen.
Richard Lugar of Indiana, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee said on
"Fox News Sunday."
  
Sen. Carl Levin of Michigan, senior Democrat on the Armed Services Committee,
cited earlier U.S. Supreme Court decisions. "There must be some modicum, some semblance of due process ... if you're going to detain people, whether it's for life or whether it's for years," Levin said, also on Fox.  (There is, it's called the 6th Amendment.)

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The State Department declined comment and a Pentagon spokeswoman, Lt. Col. Ellen Krenke of the Air Force, had no information on the reported plan. (Silence is deadly.)

As part of a solution, the Defense Department, which holds 500 prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, plans to ask the U.S. Congress for $25 million to build a 200-bed prison to hold detainees who are unlikely to ever go through a military tribunal for lack of evidence, defense officials told the Washington Post. (So not only are they trying to take more freedoms they are going to steal more money from us.)

The new prison, dubbed Camp 6, would allow inmates more comfort and freedom than they have now, and would be designed for prisoners the government believes have no more intelligence to share, the newspaper said.
(Comfort and freedom in prison? When the government believes you are not a threat they still detain you but say you have "freedoms".)

"It would be modeled on a U.S. prison and would allow socializing among inmates," the paper said.
(Thats nice, they are going to allow "socializing", but probably heavly monitored.)

"Since global war on terror is a long-term effort, it makes sense for us to be looking at solutions for long-term problems," Bryan Whitman, a Pentagon spokesman, was quoted as saying. "This has been evolutionary, but we are at a point in time where we have to say, 'How do you deal with them in the long term?"' (You certinally do not rob americans of our freedoms.)

The Post said the outcome of a review under way would also affect those expected to be captured in the course of future counterterrorism operations. (It also will affect every american citizen in future trials as well.)

One proposal would transfer large numbers of Afghan, Saudi and Yemeni detainees from the U.S. military's Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, detention center into new U.S.-built prisons in their home countries, it said. The prisons would be operated by those countries, but the State Department, where this idea originated, would ask them to abide by recognized human rights standards and would monitor compliance, a senior administration official was quoted as saying. (How nice of them to allow the detainees to be close to home, and asking for human rights. WHAT ABOUT THE BILL OF RIGHTS?)

This whole article really gets under my skin and the sad thing is that it will probably happen and the american public will sit by and let it.  The government will tell you that it is for your saftey and freedoms and pass it off as a good thing.  Do not let this happen.


01-02-05 11:52 EST

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U.S. May Consider Lifetime Terror-Suspect Detentions
This is an article from Reuters my comments are in (italic)