Posted by
Armanius on Wednesday, September 10, 2008 12:44:00 AM
As always, Obama loves to hold both sides of an issue at the same time. Pandering? Ignorance? Who knows! While speaking to a crowd in Michigan, Obama said that his position about the war on terror "has
always been clear: If you've got a terrorist, take 'em out, take 'em out. Anybody who was involved in 9/11, take 'em out." In short, kill the terrorist. But then he goes on to criticize the Bush administration's suspension of the right of habeas corpus for suspected terrorists. He said that "Habeas corpus ... is the foundation of Anglo-American law, which says very simply, if the government grabs you, then you have the right to at least ask, `Why was I grabbed?' and say, `Maybe, you've got the wrong person.'"
If I may be so bold as to try to analyze what Obama is saying is that we, as a nation, have the right to kill terrorists. But, if we arrest the terrorists instead, the terrorists are then entitled to habeas corpus rights under American civilian jurisprudence. Isn't that an oxymoronic position to have? If terrorists are entitled to habeas corpus rights, why would we, as a nation, have a right to just "take 'em out?" I suppose, if I am a soldier or law enforcement agent, I should just kill terrorists on sight then, instead of trying to capture them. If someone can make sense out of this one, please let me know. Again, is this just pure Obama doublespeak, or just plain ignorance?