McCain weighs in on Guantanamo debate ("even Adolf Eichmann got a trial")

[sabra]

<<SNIP>>
http://www.twincities.com/mld/twincities/news/nation/11936078.htm

McCain weighs in on Guantanamo debate

BY CAROL ROSENBERG

Knight Ridder Newspapers


(KRT) - Arguing that "even Adolf Eichmann got a trial,'' Republican Sen. John McCain said Sunday that the Bush administration must establish a system to try and perhaps free suspected terrorists from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba - even if they turn around and attack the United States.

"Some of these guys are terrible, terrible killers and the worst kind of scum of humanity,'' the Arizona senator said on NBC News' "Meet the Press" of the 520 men from dozens of nations who have been swept up around the globe in the war on terror.

But, "they deserve to have some adjudication of their cases,'' he said, despite a "fear that, if you release them, they'll go back and fight against us. Balance that against what it's doing to our reputation throughout the world and whether it's enhancing recruiting for people to join al-Qaida and do bad things to the United States of America.''

Israel hanged Eichmann in 1962 for deporting Jews and others to Germany's concentration and death camps during World War II, when 6 million Jews were killed. Israel sent agents to secretly snatch Eichmann in 1960 from an anonymous life in Argentina, then put him on public trial in Jerusalem.

<</SNIP>>

[Cha]

1. What is the bushriech

afraid of?

[wtmusic]

2. Xlnt point -- and GWB should get a fair trial for war crimes, too

that's what he meant, right? :shrug:

[Disturbed]

3. Will Saddam get a fair trial?

Shrub has already declared him guilty of atrocities and so has an Iraqi judge and I suspect most Amerikans and Iraqis have, also. Why bother with a trial, just hang Saddam where his statue used to be and not waste money.

[wtmusic]

5. The interesting thing is

that if Saddam got a completely fair trial, without American intervention, he most likely would be hanged. But because the admin wants to guarantee the outcome, they will fix it. If he gets a fair trial at this point (by American standards) the evidence would (and should) be thrown out--and he would walk.

The moral: the US cannot give him a fair trial. It won't be public because of the risk that the fix would be obvious. And because it's not public, everyone will know it's a fix.

We lose any way you slice it.

[K8-EEE]

27. If Saddam Got A Fair Trial, Many In BushCo Would Be Outted

as aiding and abetting him....lots of testimony from Saddam that they don't want to hear.

[struggle4progress]

7. Let's try all the little Eichmanns: Alberto Gonzales, John Yoo, Jay Bybee

[BattyDem]

4. He made a comparison to a Nazi???

Will the RWers freak out over that like they did about Durbin's remarks?

Oh wait ... he compared the prisoners to Nazis - even though no one has seen one shred of evidence that those prisoners did anything wrong. We have pictures and video tape proving that US soldiers did something wrong (most likely on orders from the top), but that doesn't mean Gitmo or Abu Ghraib is anything like a gulag or a concentration camp ... so stop saying that! :eyes:

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

6. That's been my point all along

Even the Nazi's were given due process. The Bushies are too dumb to know the meaning of the phrase.

[Straight Shooter]

8. Yippee skippee, McCain, can I give you a medal?

Try to remember how long, exactly, that the limbo prisoners in Gitmo have been denied the most basic of prisoner rights. This wasn't worth mentioning during the 2004 presidential election campaign, was it, Johnny bush-hugger?

[goclark]

24. Johnny Bush Hugger ROTFL

[noamnety]

9. Even the Salem Witches had Trials

I don't think you can have a lower standard of justice than that, but what does it say that we haven't even been able to rise to that level?

[eShirl]

19. ooo, good one!

[AX10]

10. OMG! Gee, John, how long did it take you to...

realize that everyone must get fair due process of the law? :eyes:

[Coexist]

11. this needs to be media blasted,

No?!

[kentuck]

12. At first, I thought this was a trivial post...

But Adolf Eichmann was a "Nazi"...and McCain, without any qualifiers like Durbin's "if", says flat-out that Eichmann got a trial and suggests some of these prisoners at Gitmo are being treated worse than the "Nazi" Eichmann. Is there any other way to read this?

[marbuc]

15. JHC

He was saying that even a criminal as bad as Eichmann got a trial, therefore these prisoners deserve a trial. It's all about due process, not whether the prisoners at Gitmo are comparable to Nazis.

[kentuck]

16. So a Nazi can get a trial but these guys cannot ?

What does that mean? We dont believe in "due process" anymore? If...If...If...If...If...If...If...If...If...If...If...If...If...If...If...If...If...If...If...If...If...If...If...If...If...If...If...If...If...If...If...If...If...If...If...If...If...If...If...If...If...If...If...If...If...If...If...If...

...You didn't know this was an FBI file, you might think it was done by Nazis, Pol Pot, or the gulags......

[6000eliot]

13. So, McCain is comparing Bush to Eichmann?

That's kinda strange, doncha think?

[stevedeshazer]

14. McCain is a fair-weather opportunist

He was all for Bush and his war until he read the recent polls.

[ngGale]

17. Agreed, and McCain will more than likely...

run for office in '08. That was my thought during this hug pic at the time. I can see McCain being against Gitmo, but he is an opportunist - because of that pic. After that, I lost all respect for this man.

[MODemocrat]

35. So repulsive

Most people would be told to go rent a room, sheesh!

[Robeson]

41. I agree....

...and that picture was the first thing that came to my mind.

[teryang]

18. Why has McCain been silent on this for so long?

He above all others should have understood the ramifications of the GITMO camp.

The harm this has done to our international reputation is unbelievable. Coupled with the disgrace of Abu Ghraid, the administration memos justifying torture and the abandonment of the Geneva Conventions, AND THE UNJUSTIFIED AND FRAUDULENT PRETEXTS FOR WAR IN IRAQ, our foreign and national defense postures have suffered irreparable harm.

[bklyncowgirl]

20. Good for McCain. A little independence in a Republican is a good thing.

Unfortunately, this week Bush will press the buzzer on his shock collar and he'll come wingeing back to heel just in time to join the push for Bolton.

[Demeter]

21. That's What BushCo Is Afraid of: a Trial!

And we are going to see that they get what's coming to them!!

[deliusmax]

22. I'd like to know why McCain is saying this now,

the illegal detentions at Gitmo have been going on for almost three years now, why has he been silent all this time if he really feels this way? Reeks of opportunism

[CJCRANE]

23. How can they have a fair trial

when he's just said "Some of these guys are terrible, terrible killers and the worst kind of scum of humanity''?

On the one hand he's asking for these guys to get due process and on the other he's scaring every-one that it might lead to letting "terrible killers" free.

He's hedging his bets.

[babylonsister]

25. So will this make Durbin's remarks suddenly

okay with all those who've been flying off the handle, like Frist? No, I didn't think so...

[Hobarticus]

26. McCain is to prosecution attorneys as Frist is to doctors...

"Terrible killers and the worst kind of scum of humanity"...

I see he's applying the 'videotape diagnosis' rule, pioneered by Frist. Has he even reviewed ONE case, or is he just spewing the party line?

Does ANYONE know WHY each of these men are being held, there?

[wallwriter]

28. McCain will never succeed as a Republican if he

continues to insist upon fiar trials.

[adubadee]

29. you say potato

Maybe somehow he finally figured to compare these shitty prisons to the Vietnamese camp he had the ill pleasure of being a victim. He probably considers himself even luckier he ever made it home.

[AllyCat]

39. Welcome to DU adubadee!

:hi:

[NNN0LHI]

30. Asshole McCain weighs in on Dick Durbin in this story too

>>>But McCain also urged fellow Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill., to read Alexander Solzhenitsyn's Gulag Archipelago and "apologize to soldiers who are serving, doing the job they are told to do and in a humanitarian fashion.''

Durbin has been widely criticized by Republicans for an emotional speech he made on the Senate floor last week, likening FBI reports of military tactics used at the base in Cuba to techniques used in Nazi Germany, the Soviet gulag and Pol Pot's Cambodian "killing fields.''<<<

[AllyCat]

31. McCain is the master of talking out both sides of his mouth

Just a few minutes ago, I read his comments condemning Durbin's show of "regret" on the Pol Pot comparison. Now he's out there saying that even Eichmann got a trial?

What on earth is he doing?

[AuntiBush]

32. I'm Going to Take Some Hits On This One, But I'm Starting To...

at least like the fact that McCain is prooving he's not under this adminstrations long-arms of deceit. He is taking stands, crossing aisles and going out-on-long-limbs against the neo-conservatives.

We need still more Repubs to do the same as some are finally doing.

[progressivebydesign]

38. Naw.. he's not suddenly becoming aware..

he's just seeing that Bush's political capital is spent, and he's moving on. Just as it was prudent for him to hug and kiss Bush during the campaign, he sees that the tide has turned, and now he's speaking out against them. It's all politics..

[redqueen]

33. Separating yourself from the pack ahead of '08, John?

Smart move... most will miss the cynical reality in favor of falling all over themselves to lavish praise on the rare display of principle by a republican.

[MODemocrat]

34. Thanks for nothing, Senator Flip-Flop

From one interview to the other, McCain's opinion changes. He wants Durbin to apologize for telling the truth, yet John admits that the prisoners are not being treated right in Gitmo by being detained without a trial which is supposed to be afforded to all? Is this not a form of abuse? I'll admit I'm not savvy, but what is the difference between your and Durbin's opinions?

Politicians: :shrug: :shrug:

[shantipriya]

36. McCain

McCain is one of the most unprincipled Repugs. I can't stand him.Russert has him more often than any other politician. I don't know why and therefore I hate Russert. I have stopped watching his show.He is simply awed by McCain.

[progressivebydesign]

37. Ah..another presidential contender weighs in.

McCain seems like a firebrand to some people, I supposed, I see him as a guy who lets his opinions blow in the wind, hoping to pick up speed toward getting elected. He's only saying these things because he senses the political winds are blowing away from Bush.. Different story from when he was hugging on Bush during the campaign.

ANy guy that would let Bush and Rove humiliate and destroy him and hurt his family so deeply, then hug and kiss him for political gain, is apparently so hungry for power he'd do or say anything.

[Zerex71]

40. Is this the same McCain who said that Durbin should take back his remarks?

So which is it, McCain? Are we, or are we not, torturers and sadists like the SS?