Editorials Hit Congress on New 'Terror' Bill Thu Sep 28, 7:16 PM ET
NEW YORK The editorial pages of four top newspapers have hit, unusually hard, congressional approval of new detention and interrogation guidelines this week.
The New York Times offered perhaps the single strongest passage of all, charging today that this ?tyrannical law? will come to ?be ranked with the low points in American democracy, our generation?s version of the Alien and Sedition Acts.?
The paper hit both parties: ?Here?s what happens when this irresponsible Congress railroads a profoundly important bill to serve the mindless politics of a midterm election: The Bush administration uses Republicans? fear of losing their majority to push through ghastly ideas about antiterrorism that will make American troops less safe and do lasting damage to our 217-year-old nation of laws -- while actually doing nothing to protect the nation from terrorists. Democrats betray their principles to avoid last-minute attack ads. Our democracy is the big loser.?
The Washington Post, not always aligned with the Times on such matters, sounded similar notes, complaining that ?rather than carefully weigh the issues, Congress has allowed itself to be stampeded into a vote on hastily written but far-reaching legal provisions, in a preelection climate in which dissenters risk being labeled as soft on terrorism?.
?White House pressure may have persuaded many in Congress that the easiest course is to quickly approve the detention bill in its present form and leave town. If so, their actions almost surely will come back to haunt them. Until this country adopts a legal system for the war on terrorism that meets [Sen. John Warner (news, bio, voting record)'s] standard, the war itself will be unwinnable."
The Los Angeles Times today raised the spectre of?Arlen Spector, who has said that the habeas corpursprovisions will set back the protections 900 years, dating back to the Magna Carta.
?Even if he says so himself, Sen. Arlen Specter (news, bio, voting record) (R-Pa.), the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, is an expert on constitutional law. So his warning that the Supreme Court is likely to invalidate pending legislation that would create military commissions to try terrorist suspects deserves a hearing -- in the Senate.
?The problem with the legislation -- even with the improvements forced on the White House by Sen. John McCain (news, bio, voting record) (R-Ariz.) -- is that it would make it impossible for alleged enemy combatants to file what is known as a writ of habeas corpus, which allows them to challenge the legality of their imprisonment.
?The argument for allowing detainees to file habeas petitions goes beyond avoiding the embarrassment of a rebuke from the Supreme Court, which has already twice rebuffed the administration's legal strategy in the war against terrorism. Thirty-three former U.S. diplomats have sent a letter to Congress warning that ?to deny habeas corpus to our detainees can be seen as prescription for how the captured members of our own military, diplomatic and NGO [nongovernmental organization] personnel stationed abroad may be treated.?
?On Wednesday, the House approved a bill that does not permit detainees to file habeas corpus petitions. That means that it will be up to Specter and his colleagues to preserve the Great Writ when the Senate votes, as early as today.?
USA Today denounced the "quick fix" in Congress. "What the nation needs is a law that defines how to protect its citizens from terrorism without violating their values," its editorial stated. "Getting it right is more critical than getting it done fast."
--E&P Staff |
