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Politics : Sharks in the Septic Tank -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: TimF who wrote (58826)	9/18/2002 9:28:52 PM
From: The Philosopher	Respond to of 82486

I might kick myself later for getting in the middle of this No might about it!

To: TimF who wrote (58826)	9/19/2002 8:36:39 AM
From: Lane3	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 82486

This is an editorial from today's Post. I have been finding the disorderliness of this unsettling for some time. Does it bother you? Prosecute or Detain? Thursday, September 19, 2002; Page A26 THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION and the government of Pakistan deserve credit for the recent arrests of alleged al Qaeda operatives. Ramzi Binalshibh, arrested in Pakistan, is believed to have helped coordinate the Sept. 11 attacks. Investigators hope he will eventually provide information on the group's structure, people and future plans, as other captives reportedly have. The arrest of a group of American citizens from Lackawanna, N.Y., for allegedly providing material support for al Qaeda by taking terrorist training in Afghanistan is both chilling -- how many other such cells remain undiscovered in the United States? -- and reassuring as evidence that progress in the war on terror is possible. Assuming the government can prove its case, the arrests show that al Qaeda can be penetrated. Meanwhile, authorities in Singapore have detained 21 people suspected of planning attacks on American targets in Southeast Asia. But the spate of arrests also highlights the administration's difficulty in figuring out what to do with, and how to classify, those it detains. Mr. Binalshibh, for example, seems a perfect candidate for trial before a military tribunal. As a noncitizen arrested abroad, he is promised nothing by the Bill of Rights. Yet the government has already put Zacarias Moussaoui on trial in federal court for related offenses. Is it plausible to try one man with the full protections of American justice and the other under a completely different system -- for essentially the same crime? More disturbing, the Lackawanna defendants' case is hard to distinguish from that of Jose Padilla, the American citizen arrested at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport this year for allegedly planning a "dirty bomb" attack in the United States. Mr. Padilla is also an American accused of operating on behalf of al Qaeda. Yet, while the Lackawanna defendants have lawyers to whom they have access and who can speak on their behalf, Mr. Padilla has been classified as an "enemy combatant" and cannot meet with his lawyer. The difference between them seems to be only that the government believes it can make a case against the Lackawanna group, while the evidence against Mr. Padilla is either too thin or too sensitive to rely on in a prosecution. The line between criminal and combatant is genuinely fuzzy in the current conflict, and nobody wants to release dangerous people, even where a responsible criminal indictment is not immediately possible, if there is a lawful basis to detain them. But neither is it healthy for the justice system to appear random, for there to be no apparent principle guiding who gets detained under which legal doctrine or with what rights. Most important, nobody should be deprived of the most rudimentary ability to defend himself as the government evades rules that were designed to protect basic liberty. The public can only hope that such arrests, which represent real successes in the war on terrorism, will grow more numerous. But the more that occurs, the greater the need for the administration to articulate what is guiding its decisions. Congress needs to keep a watchful eye. For that to happen, the administration must share more information with Congress. © 2002 The Washington Post Company