December 1st, 2011, the US Senate accomplished the unthinkable--with the nearly unanimous passage of the National Defense Authorization Bill of 2012 -- they committed treason.
No proof of wrongdoing is required and those accused are denied the due process right of trial by their peers, or the services of an attorney-- and are subsequently relegated to the "military commissions justice system.' As a result, the accused are reduced to the status of "unlawful enemy combatant,' and are subject to the following actions: "extroardinary rendition', "enhanced interrogation' procedures, "indefinite detention to possibly a life sentence, and "presidential assigned extermination of target'.
These powers are then "given' to the President to use at will, fully codified in law,while requiring in reality no proof other than presidential whim.
It is at this juncture that I find the timing of this bill suspicious -- coinciding with the exponential growth of the Occupy Wall Street Movement, the recent implosion of both EU and US economies, the emerging body of proof documenting Wall Street's enormous crimes, and the Super Committee threat to cut military funding. It almost looks like the robber barons of Wall Street "circling the wagons' in a fit of legislative revenge against the rabble, namely you and I.
History of NDAA 2012 Sections 1031, 1032, and 1033-35...another AUMF
This bill was co-written by the powerful Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee Senator Carl Levin (D) and the Senate Minority Leader John McCain, with Senator Lindsey Graham assigning himself as main cheerleader.
The deliberations were kept secret and any debate was forbidden. Crafted under the auspices of keeping our nation "safe from terrorism'--the entire world including the US is now classified as a battlefield with indefinite timelines. Anyone broaching the question of due process rights is shouted down as "soft on terrorism' -- mainly by Senator Graham.
In fact, here is an example of how Senator Graham views the issues of due process rights:
..." If you're an American citizen and you betray your country, you're going to be questioned about what you know," ..."and you're not going to be given a lawyer if our national security interests dictate that you not be given a lawyer and go into the criminal justice system, because "we're not fighting crime, we're fighting a war."
What should have been an ordinary defense appropriations bill morphed into a "get out of jail free' card for this president and any others, after arbitrarily rendering previously constitutionally protected dissent into a war crime.
The NDAA or S. 1867 allows any president the right to sentence anyone including US citizens to "indefinite detention' in a military prison. Those sentenced under this new "law' are sentenced without a trial or the aid of an attorney. They have no due process rights other than what the ' military justice' system allows any other unlawful enemy combatant. Bluntly put, even American citizens accused, but not tried and found guilty - can be sent to Guantanamo.
Confronted with this possibility by Tea Party Senator Rand Paul, Senator McCain gave a casual answer.
Senator Rand Paul: "My question would be under the provisions would it be possible that an American citizen then could be declared an enemy combatant and sent to Guantanamo Bay and detained indefinitely."
Senator John McCain: "I think that as long as that individual, no matter who they are, if they pose a threat to the security of the United States of America, should not be allowed to continue that threat."
This development would have remained secret, except for the whistleblowing of the ACLU earlier in the week right before Thanksgiving. Again, the silence coming from the US Senate Armed Services Committee, chaired by democratic Senator Carl Levin and assisted by Senate Minority Leader Senator John McCain and Sen. Lindsey Graham, was deafening.
Sections 1031, 1032 and 1033-35...
What has been referred to in a mundane legalese style as "Section 1031 is a renewal of the 2001 AUMF or the Authorization to Use Military Force amended with sneaky, ill defined expansions of the original language: ie. allowing military force and military detention against previously identified perpetrators of the 9/11 attacks, the countries allegedly harboring them and anyone who "substantially supports" Al Qaeda, the Taliban or""associated forces." The magic words which define this Orwellian doublespeak legalese are the phrases: "substantially supports' and "associated forces.'
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
