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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsNDAA needs definite attention
We shouldnt allow indefinite detention of Americans without due process.
Since U.S. President Barack Obama signed the National Defense Authorization Act into law on Dec. 31, 2011, the U.S. government has been drawing fierce ire and opposition, from civil liberties groups to average citizens. The GOP majority on the House Armed Services Committee has finally started to deliberate changes to the hotly contested indefinite detention measure in the act. As Americans, we need to tell Congress that we reject indefinite detention without charge or trial, and we expect Congress to fix the mess that it has made.
The NDAAs various objectionable aspects culminate in what amounts to the ability to detain any person including a U.S. citizen on American soil without due process. This is an egregious act that goes against Obamas as well as many conservative congressmens pledges to be vigilant about civil liberties in the war on terror.
It is constitutionally the burden of the state to prove in the court of law absolute guilt of the accused, and until so proven, treat them as innocent. As demonstrated in the killing of Anwar al-Awlaki, the White House can ignore our countrys Bill of Rights as they please.
A recent hearing against the NDAA on behalf of detained journalists highlighted that neither side of the debate plans to budge an inch. We must urge our representatives that we will not tolerate heinous crimes against our people, and indefinite detention of absolutely anyone without due process is unarguably atrocious. We need to truly ponder Benjamin Franklins words that those who would sacrifice essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.
Source: http://www.mndaily.com/nuevo/2012/04/05/ndaa-needs-definite-attention
gratuitous
(82,849 posts)Yeah, that'll happen. Along about . . . never. Is never a good time for you citizens? We'll just pencil you in for that. "Due process" is so inconvenient. Slows things down. Besides, you can't guarantee the outcome. Now, when you throw someone into a deep, dark hole without charge or counsel, you know just what you're going to get. When you fire a missile into a house where you think a very, very bad person might be staying, you're sure to get a very satisfying "Boom!" followed by a lot of destruction and some good old-fashioned carnage. We need this kind of certainty.
It's the American way!
woo me with science
(32,139 posts)So damned much needs attention.
gratuitous
(82,849 posts)We'd at least get a couple of prissy school-marm posts about alarming alarmism and over-reaction, and how it disrespects "true" victims of "real" police states and dictatorships to notice any similarities between our nation's current course and the worst excesses of the past.