Victory on preventive detention law: in context (Glenn Greenwald)

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Regardless of what motivated this, and no matter how bad the current detention scheme is, this development is very positive, and should be considered a victory for those who spent the last four months loudly protesting Obama's proposal. Here's why:


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So all one can really say about all of this is that while no improvements have been made, something that would have been extremely bad has been averted, at least for now. And while the administration continues to assert the power of indefinite detention even without a new law, at least detainees now have the right of habeas corpus review as established by the 2008 Boumediene Supreme Court decision, and thus far, 30 out of 38 detainees have won their habeas hearings and have had courts ordered them released (although 20 of the "winners" continue to remain imprisoned because we can't place them anywhere). Whatever else might be true, in our political culture, especially when it comes to Terrorism and civil liberties, blocking a new and terrible development -- even as it keeps very bad things largely in place -- is an important victory.

http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2009/09/24/detention/

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