On Congress’ ‘battlefield’ American liberty dies
I turned about and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favor to men of skill; but opportunity and happenstance befall them all. For man does not know his lot: as the fishes caught in an evil net, and as hunted birds caught in a snare; so are the sons of man caught in an evil time, when it falls suddenly upon them.
– Ecclesiastes, 9:11-12
In all that we do, we should strive to show the decency, the civility, the respect for human dignity that ought to characterize a free people. It is not our way to answer hate with hate. But we are a people conscious of our God-given right to live in peace and without fear. And it is our duty to make clear to all those who seek to deny that right that we are willing and able to answer war with war. (from the column “Remember who we are”)
Regarding those foreigners who are actually accused, or might be accused, of a crime under American law, the Constitution clearly indicates that due process must be followed – not just for citizens, but for all persons. For this reason, I believe that it would not be justified to try foreigners captured in America – even those accused of terrorist acts – outside the normal course of our legal procedures simply because they are foreigners.
What is also unclear is whether enough people in our citizenry and government understand that no degree of executive branch confidence in the guilt of a citizen can justify the suspension of that citizen’s constitutional rights.
Such suspension would indeed be a powerful government weapon against terrorists. But it would be a more dangerous threat to the liberty of American citizens. The Washington Post last week carried a story about a former Boston cab driver, once identified by authorities as a major terrorism suspect, who was kept in solitary confinement for more than eight months without seeing a judge or being assigned a lawyer.
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Read More at WND By Alan Keyes, WorldNetDaily
