On Wednesday President Bush ordered the US Congress to rubber stamp his proposal to create Kangaroo Courts for the Guantanamo Bay detainees. These sham legal proceedings would potentially send prisoners to their execution on the basis of classified information to which the accused would have no access. Furthermore, the "courts" could use information or confessions obtained through torture (called "alternative interrogation techniques" by the president). Needless to say, Bush’s proposal has been rejected by the American legal community (with the exception of "Torture Yoo"), and it will be interesting to watch whether the Republican Congress is willing to abandon Civilized Law in order to win votes in the November election.
But what caught the attention of European viewers was President Bush’s boasting admission of CIA-run secret prisons – the "Black Sites" that the Washington Post had reported on earlier this year. For months, many European leaders had refused to pursue these unlawful prisons – pointing to Washington’s repeated denial of their existence. We now know the Bush administration had been lying: not only did these Black Sites exist, but President Bush has held open the possibility of using them again in the future.
In Germany the reaction has been swift – and angry. Volker Beck, who leads the Green Party in the Bundestag, has demanded that Chancellor Merkel apply pressure on her good friend and masseur George W. Bush.
Beck: Ja. Frau Merkel sollte ihre gute Beziehung nutzen, um ihrem amerikanischen Freund ins Gewissen zu reden. Deutschland darf sich auch nicht indirekt an der Verschleppung von Gefangenen in Geheimgefängnisse beteiligen. Deshalb erwarte ich von der Bundesregierung, dass sie bei den CIA-Flügen im deutschen Luftraum entweder von den Amerikanern nachprüfbare Passagierlisten verlangt oder alle amerikanischen Maschinen im deutschen Luftraum entsprechend überprüft.
Dr. Sylvia-Yvonne Kaufmann (Left Party/PDS) has called for Washington to clarify whether these secret prison were located in Europe. And some of the harshest criticism has come from the Liberals (FDP): the party secretary Dirk Niebel has called for the government to officially distance itself from Bush’s illegal tactics:
Nach Niebels Ansicht operieren die USA «bewusst in einem rechtsfreien Raum, den sie aus rechtsstaatlicher Sicht mit jenen teilen, die sie bekämpfen wollen». Der FDP-Politiker warnte: «Wer in der Auseinandersetzung mit dem Terrorismus die rechtsstaatlichen Wege verläßt, begibt sich auf die schiefe Bahn und landet am Ende auf der Ebene seiner Gegner.» Das sei «im Kampf gegen den Terror nicht hinnehmbar und schon gar nicht unterstützenswert», betonte Niebel.
Bush may see some short-term political gains from the authoritarian wing of his party, who crave a one-party system, but he has further discredited our nation in the eyes of our allies and the world.
