Senator Hatch debated the Gonzales nomination before the Senate today, using so much disinformation and misinformation that the White House counsel himself would have been proud.
Senator Hatch stated that combatants who do not wear military uniforms are terrorists. Therefore, U.S. Special Forces in Afghanistan who have been reported and photographed wearing Afghan traditional garb and riding horses across the desert must be terrorists too. If those Special Forces soldiers are taken captive by the enemy, then they must not be deserving of prisoner rights or guarantees against inhumane treatment or torture, according to Senator Hatch’ tortured logic.
Come to think of it, the U.S.-employed security "contractors" (mercenaries in Old School talk) who have no military chain of command, rank or insignia, must be terrorists too and Senator Hatch’ logic must mean they can be tortured, imprisoned indefinitely by the enemy, since none of the treaties binding the U.S. to the world communities applies to them.
Of course, according to Senator Hatch’ statements, since the terrorists have no command and control structure and are thus not prisoners of war — then there must be no use in torturing them to obtain organizational information. Obviously, then, the U.S. tortures those people out of sadism, not for legitimate intelligence purposes.
Senator Hatch made a legalistic argument that, since the enemy combatants did not represent any nation of the earth with which we are at war, then the Geneva Convention does not apply. Yet, if we are at war, and choose to invade and occupy sovereign nations of the world, then the U.S. Constitution requires a Declaration of War by the U.S. Congress. That little legalism is apparently not significant enough for presidential or congressional action. The U.S. executive and legislative branches like to pick and choose their constitutional and legal responsibilities according to convenience and self-interest.
Apparently, according to Senator Hatch, "terrorists" are not humans, and thus have no human rights. And yet, the U.S. authorities can create terrorists by declaration without benefits of courts, trials, or access to any sort of system of justice. Senator Hatch does not seem to be bothered by lack of justice for supposed terrorists, and since none ever seem to be convicted of terrorism, they just have to settle for no justice or injustice. It seems tough, but that’s what they get for being declared terrorists by us.
With such a solid structure of senatorial debate, there seems little doubt that Al Gonzales will be appointed Attorney General. American values will prevail and we will continue to inflict them on the world. People will be declared guilty by proclamation, the Constitution will be reinterpreted, and if anyone is not with "us", they are determined to be against "us".
Welcome to Amerika.