El ex vicepresidente Dick Cheney, tras el atentado fallido en el vuelo Amsterdam - Detroit, ha acusado a Obama de menoscabar la guerra contra el terrorismo iniciada por Bush. Ojalá fuera así, dice Jacob Sullum en un artículo para Reason.
Under the Bush administration, detainees were either released, tried in civilian court, tried by military tribunals, or held indefinitely without trial, depending on the president’s whim. Under the Obama administration, detainees will either be released, tried in civilian court, tried by military tribunals, or held indefinitely without trial, depending on the president’s whim. Furthermore, Obama reserves the right to keep detainees locked up even if they are acquitted, an option that makes you wonder why he bothers with trials at all.
Obama and Bush are also of one mind when it comes to the necessity and propriety of shipping detainees off to cooperating countries that may have fewer compunctions about torture and of listening to Americans’ phone calls and reading their email without a warrant. They likewise agree that national security requires the suppression of lawsuits aimed at holding the government accountable for violating people’s rights in the name of the War on Terrorism—excuse me, the War on Terrorists.
