Hassagot השגות

Presidential Prerogative

    Walter Berns of the American Enterprise Institute has written an Opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal entitled "Interrogations and Presidential Prerogative" (Saturday, May 23, 2009, see here) and subtitled "The Founders created an executive with substantial discretionary powers."   The piece is well worth the reading.  I quote from it here.  The italics are in the original article, but the bold face is mine:

Locke argued in the Second Treatise of Civil Government that the "first and fundamental law is the establishment of the legislative power." And so it is that the first article of the U.S. Constitution is devoted to the legislative power. There is safety in law, he said; the law is "promulgated and known to the people," and everyone without exception is subject to it.

But Locke admitted that not everything can be done by law. Or, as he said, there are many things "which the law can by no means provide for." The law cannot "foresee" events, for example, nor can it act with dispatch or with the appropriate subtlety required when dealing with foreign powers. Nor, as we know very well indeed, can a legislative body preserve secrecy.

Obama's Gitmo (Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan)

    Background:  For information about Bagram Detention Center (Afghanistan), see the New York Times article by Tim Golden (updated 4/2/2009)  here.  In particular, consider the following paragraphs from that article.  Emphasis is mine:

The population at Bagram has increased nearly sixfold over the past four years, driven not just by the deepening conflict in Afghanistan but also by the fact that the Bush administration in September 2004 largely halted the movement of prisoners to Guantánamo, leaving Bagram as the preferred alternative to detain terrorism suspects. Human rights advocates pressed the Bush administration to revamp the review process for releasing or transferring the 630 Bagram detainees, all but about 30 of whom are Afghans.

Quotes from Hebrew and Christian Bible in US War Documents

    The Chicago Tribune reported today (Memorial Day, Monday, May 25, 2009) on the use of biblical quotations in American intelligence reports ( "Use of Scripture linked to war documents troubles Jewish, Christian leaders," see here).  The article, by Manya A. Brachear, echoes an Associated Press piece in the Los Angeles Times , "Pentagon cuts daily Bible quote," that appeared on May 19, 2009 , see here. 
    In today's piece, Manya Brachear quotes from two Chicago-based of Christian theologians, Dr. Marc Gopin (representing a Jewish voice) of George Mason University, and a Chicago-based Muslim leader.  Each respondent opposes the use of biblical verses, all taken out of context, between 2001 and 2003.  Manya Brachear apparently did not find, or did not look, for any voice to speak positively about this practice.

Memorial Day: Obama and Cheney on National Security (May 21, 2009), part 2

    This past week, President Barack Obama and Vice President delivered speeches on the same day and on the same theme of national security.  For the text of Obama's speech, see here.  For the text of Cheney's speech, see here.
    In this post, I comment on Cheney's speech on occasion.  Emphases are mine unless otherwise indicated.  Quotations are indented.

The first attack on the World Trade Center was treated as a law enforcement problem, with everything handled after the fact–crime scene, arrests, indictments, convictions, prison sentences, case closed.

That’s how it seemed from a law enforcement perspective, at least–but for the terrorists the case was not closed. For them, it was another offensive strike in their ongoing war against the United States. And it turned their minds to even harder strikes with higher casualties. Nine-eleven made necessary a shift of policy, aimed at a clear strategic threat–what the Congress called “an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States.” From that moment forward, instead of merely preparing to round up the suspects and count up the victims after the next attack, we were determined to prevent attacks in the first place.

"a law enforcement problem" -- For Obama, the current "war on terror" should be seen in just such a light.