Despite SCOTUS Ruling, Schlafly Suggests Congress, White House Stand Firm on Gitmo
by Chad Groening
June 30, 2006
(AgapePress) - - A pro-family activist says she was shocked by Thursday's decision by the Supreme Court that said President Bush overstepped his authority in ordering military tribunals for Guantanamo Bay detainees. And a Pentagon advisor who recently returned from a second visit to "Gitmo" says there is absolutely no reason to close the federal detention facility there, as suggested by some liberals. The case involving military tribunals stemmed from a complaint from a former bodyguard and driver for terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden. His lawyer argued that the U.S. should not be able to hold him indefinitely without access to courts and lawyers. But a 5-3 vote, the nation's highest court supported the detainee's contention. In the majority opinion, Justice John Paul Stevens said the proposed trials were illegal under U.S. law and the Geneva Convention. But Phyllis Schlafly of Eagle Forum thinks Congress needs to assert its authority in this matter.
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Phyllis Schlafly |
"The founding fathers did not set up three co-equal branches," Schlafly points out. "The founding fathers put the Congress in control of the courts in that they can decide what kinds of cases the judges can hear and not hear." In fact, she notes, Congress had taken away the jurisdiction of the court over this matter -- something that was pointed out by Justices Scalia, Thomas, and Alito, the three dissenters. That very fact was pointed out by Justice Clarence Thomas in writing for the minority. Thomas wrote that the Supreme Court did not have jurisdiction over the issue, and that it "openly flouts our well-established duty to respect the executive's judgment in matters of military operations and foreign affairs."
The Eagle Forum president admits she was surprised the decision came down the way it did. "I think maybe the court should not have heard this case," she shares. "They should have left this up to the Commander in Chief in wartime."
But Mrs. Schlafly does not think the decision will compel President Bush to release any of the dangerous prisoners being held at Gitmo. "These are really bad people who really need to be locked up," she says, "and to let them loose would be a terrible thing. I just do not believe the President's going to do that."
What does she expect the president to do? "He's going to gather all his lawyers around him and find out a way to outmaneuver the court, which is what I think he should do," she offers.
The president's press secretary, Tony Snow, has already indicated that White House lawyers intend to review the decision.
Shut It Down? No Way ...
Amidst a clergy group's accusations of torture being administered to detainees at Gitmo, some have called for the detention facility to be shut down. But Lt. Col. (U.S. Army Ret.) Bob Maginnis, who recently returned from his second visit to the facility and maintains all prisoners are being treated in accordance with the Geneva Convention, says there's no reason to do that.
Maginnis says he toured the facility at Guantanamo Bay, sampled the food, and witnessed some of the interrogations being conducted there. He contends the individuals being kept there are not legal prisoners of war because they do not conduct themselves according to the law and customs of war.
"They hide amongst the population, they explode improvised explosive devices, killing innocent men, women, and children in public places," he says. "They don't stand toe-to-toe and fight with us. They play by rules that no civilized people would play by."
For those reasons, Maginnis maintains the Gitmo detainees do not have to be treated as legal POWs. "If you are a true combatant, a prisoner of war, there are four criteria: being commanded by a person responsible for subordinates; having a fixed, distinctive sign, recognizable at a distance -- in other words, a uniform with insignia; carrying arms openly; and conducting operations in accordance with the arms and customs of war," he says. "These terrorists don't do that."
Consequently, he says, it is ridiculous for critics to demand the facility be shut down. "Don't ask us to open up Guantanamo and just release these [people]; they try to kill us every day down there," he says. Keeping such people "off the streets" should be America's number-one priority, he adds.
Chad Groening, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is a reporter for American Family Radio News, which can be heard online.
