DON’T TALK ABOUT IRAQ

DON'T TALK ABOUT IRAQ

Torture, my ass. This is about NOT talking about Iraq. Period.

George W. Bush compromised to get his deal legalizing torture: he won't get to rewrite the Geneva Conventions. But he does get to legalize torture. Republicans
must be so proud. No one can utter the word “Geneva”. Bravo. Torture and speech
all in one, but when you throw in allowing secret evidence you've got an anti-American
trifecta. Well done.

Democrats need to call this what it is and not mince words about it, but first
they have to find their spine.

From Balkinization:

Here's the language. It's not subtle at all, and only takes 30 seconds or to see that the Senators have capitualted entirely, that the U.S. will hereafter violate the Geneva Conventions by engaging in Cold Cell, Long Time Standing, etc., and that there will be very little pretense about it. In addition to the elimination of habeas rights in section 6, the bill would delegate to the President the authority to interpret “the meaning and application of the Geneva Conventions” “for the United States.” And then, for good measure, it would preclude courts altogether from ever interpreting the Geneva Conventions — any part of them — by providing that “no person may invoke the Geneva Conventions or any protocols thereto in any habeas or civil action or proceeding to which the United States, or a current or former officer, employee, member of the Armed Forces, or other agent of the United States, is a party as a source of rights, in any court of the United States or its States or territories.” If this is enacted, the only hope would be the prospect of the Supreme Court holding that both the habeas cut-off, and the “no person may invoke Geneva” provision, are unconstitutional. Here's the language… Senators Snatch Defeat From Jaws of Victory: U.S. to be First Nation to Authorize Violations of Geneva Marty Lederman

President Bush got this deal because he caved on rewriting Article 3, while putting into law that no one can invoke Geneva.

Wow.

But the biggest winner is Senator John McCain. Brit and Bill will have to eat it, crow, that is.

As is already happening, Bush is being pronounced the winner because the Democrats
never showed up for the fight. Why? You can talk about the politics of torture
all you want, but the bottom line is that they placed a very bad bet on John McCain. Sometimes wait and see how things play out just ends up looking like you're weak. Ask John Kerry how it worked out for him during the Swiftboat vet onslaught. Digby says it plainly. The
Democrats got “punked”.

Political winners, assuming the detainee deal is drafted and goes to a floor vote in the the House and Senate: Bush: In return for making some concessions, he gets clear guidance for CIA interrogators on what they can and can’t do to detainees and he ends an intra-party impasse. McCain: Conservative commentators had attacked him for blocking Bush on the detainee tribunals but now he can resume his courtship of the GOP rank and file as he looks to the 2008 presidential nomination. Probable losers: Civil libertarians who may still object to the tribunals and Democrats who have been laying low on the issue, apparently assuming that McCain-Bush impasse would prevent any deal. “They painted themselves into a corner,” said GOP Senate aide Don Stewart. “They said, ‘I’m with McCain,’ and now McCain has reached an agreement.” Detainee deal sets stage for Nov. 7 McCain-Bush accord on tribunals will be put to litmus-test vote next week

Legalizing torture, military tribunals, and throwing away the U.S. Constitution, that's George W. Bush's America, which the Republicans will defend
to the death. Their candidates will run on it in 2006, with McCain doing the same in 2008.

If the Democrats stay silent on this they will deserve our condemnation and
will get it, at least here.

But the “everyone Republican wins” tag doesn't quite fit.

At some point, now
or later, the people of this country will have to decide if they're with Jefferson
and Franklin and our troops, or
for Bush and Cheney and the Republican thugs, people the Founders would fight to the death against.

I've got one word for Democrats, 2006 elections be damned: FILIBUSTER. (Yeah, that'll happen.)

Meanwhile, let's remember the real goal and what we're not talking about: IRAQ. Democrats need to raise the roof.

UPDATE (10:05 p.m.): The abominable just became the selling of our national soul.

… The deal does next to nothing to stop the president from reinterpreting the Geneva Conventions. While the White House agreed to a list of “grave breaches” of the conventions that could be prosecuted as war crimes, it stipulated that the president could decide on his own what actions might be a lesser breach of the Geneva Conventions and what interrogation techniques he considered permissible. It’s not clear how much the public will ultimately learn about those decisions. They will be contained in an executive order that is supposed to be made public, but Mr. Hadley reiterated that specific interrogation techniques will remain secret. … A Bad Bargain