quote:Originally posted by invix:
... Walker/Lindh has reportedly been asking for a lawyer from the get-go, and only got when they moved him to VIrginia...
The whole idea of trying POWs like criminals is a hornet's nest of ugly things just aching to happen. Due process simply can't be made to occur in the normal sense (i.e.--there are no Public Defenders in Afghanistan, so there's
no way Walker can have a lawyer until he gets either to the US or somewhere reasonably close), so you have to come up with something like this ill-advised military tribunals idea which may or may not be constitutional (spent awhile on this in Constitutional Law a week ago--it's quite murky), and will undoubtably be perceived by the world at large as unfair. An international tribunal, like that at Nuremburg, would be the best bet, but the US doesn't want to share its "justice"--ironic because, as it stands, whether it will be justice at all with only the US handling it is highly questionable. |
