Wednesday, February 6, 2008

Amendment VI & Guantanamo

Amendment VI
In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the state and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for his defense.
What's this business about "a speedy trial" all about?

Confusion Clouds Guantanamo Tribunals
'Fog Of War' Confuses Witness Accounts At First-Ever Guantanamo Tribunals
GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba, Feb. 6, 2008
CBS News
(AP) The confusion of combat during an intense firefight in Afghanistan five years ago has led to conflicting testimony that is complicating efforts to try a Canadian terror suspect in the first U.S. war-crime tribunals since the World War II era.

Oh, yeah - witnesses may not recall exactly what happened! (... ignoring the Framers' concerns about related habeas corpus issues.)

... this Constitutional comment ignores one of the more grievous circumstances of this particular case:
Omar Khadr, who was 15 when he was captured, is accused of throwing a grenade that killed an American Special Forces soldier, Army Sgt. 1st Class Christopher Speer, during the 2002 firefight at an al-Qaida compound.
I am ashamed of my country!

We're trying a child for war crimes!

Stop the madness!

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