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December 04, 2006
Losing Our Way
Over the last several days, more details have emerged in the sorry story of Jose Padilla, an American detained as an "enemy combatant" since 2002, until a few months ago without being charged with a crime.
Detention of these enemy combatants in America's war against Islamic terrorism has been controversial. Many such combatants who were captured during combat in either Afghanistan or Iraq have been held indefinitely at various locations around the globe, including American military facilities at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Last summer the U.S. Supreme Court rejected the Bush Administration's attempt to try these detainees by military tribunal, as unlawful and a violation of the Geneva Conventions.
And who could forget the bizarre case of the "American Taliban" John Walker Lindh, the 20-year-old Californian captured after the Mazar e Sharif prison uprising during the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan? Walker had been fighting with the Taliban against the U.S. backed Northern Alliance, and is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence in Virginia.
The Padilla case is different. Unlike the Guantanamo detainees, Padilla is not a foreign national. And unlike Lindh, Padilla was not captured fighting overseas. Padilla is an American citizen arrested on American soil, but for nearly four years his constitutional right to due process was simply ignored. He was held for years in complete isolation, and perhaps tortured, without ever being charged with a crime.
Despite much hype from the government about Padilla's participation in numerous plots against America, apparently any evidence of such participation was lacking. As Andrew Sullivan points out in an excellent post on the subject, any mention of such behavior was conspicuously absent from the actual indictment against Padilla. Sullivan goes on to point out that whatever legitimate charges may exist against Padilla (no one is claiming he's a saint), he may now be so mentally damaged by his confinement that he is unable to stand trial.
The battle against Islamic terrorism poses many challenges for this country. We face a real threat from a real enemy who would like nothing more than to destroy our way of life, and we must fight this threat with unflinching resolve. Without a doubt, that means eliminating those who would destroy us whenever possible.
But as the Padilla case and the proposed warrantless wiretapping of Americans illustrate, in pursuing the enemy at all costs, we risk becoming what we seek to destroy. No small part of American victory over terrorism is preserving those precious freedoms that make this the greatest country in the world. With freedom comes risk, but it's worth it.
We hope that Americans will (with help from the press) take a real look at the disastrous Padilla case and hold their government accountable to uphold the rights afforded American citizens by our Constitution. During this difficult period of history, we must not lose our way, and where we have already strayed off course, we must right it.
Posted by houtopia at December 4, 2006 02:08 PM