If the law doesn't suit, just ignore it
By Richard Ackland
January 13, 2006
The way George Bush sees the proper functioning of the US justice system bears a striking similarity to the way the Iraqi justice system functioned under Saddam Hussein. In other words, whatever the President declares to be law, is the law. In that sense the US and the former regime in Iraq enjoyed an unexpected synchronicity.
The latest presidential "edict" is that aliens held at Guantanamo Bay have no right to have their habeas corpus cases heard in the US civil courts. To that end the US Department of Justice has moved to close the courts to about 300 detainees at the navy base in Cuba, including David Hicks.
....
Little wonder, given the reports in the US press recently that Bush had blurted out at a heated White House meeting that the constitution was "just a goddamned piece of paper".
The Bush regime's position is that the President should have the power to arrest and indefinitely hold prisoner anyone, anywhere in the world, without charge and without judicial review. The view from Washington is that checks and balances are for girly-boys. Saddam would approve.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/opinion/if-the-law-doesnt-suit-just-ignore-it/2006/01/12/1136956295386.htmlvia:
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