Barack Obama's Confused and Duplicitous Foreign Policy WILL Get People Killed

When Bill O'Reilly interviewed Barack Obama, Barack Obama made it clear that we are in fact in the middle of a war.



Today, however, his administration issued a statement that put that disposition into doubt.

President-elect Barack Obama's advisers are quietly crafting a proposal to ship dozens, if not hundreds, of imprisoned terrorism suspects to the United States to face criminal trials, a plan that would make good on his promise to close the Guantanamo Bay prison but could require creation of a controversial new system of justice.

During his campaign, Obama described Guantanamo as a "sad chapter in American history" and has said generally that the U.S. legal system is equipped to handle the detainees. But he has offered few details on what he planned to do once the facility is closed.

Under plans being put together in Obama's camp, some detainees would be released and many others would be prosecuted in U.S. criminal courts.

A third group of detainees -- the ones whose cases are most entangled in highly classified information -- might have to go before a new court designed especially to handle sensitive national security cases, according to advisers and Democrats involved in the talks. Advisers participating directly in the planning spoke on condition of anonymity because the plans are not final.

This is not merely a technical legal classification. This is a vital distinction. If Al Qaeda types are treated as criminals by our court system, then they are considered criminals. This is the way that Bill Clinton considered Al Qaeda back in the 1990's. It was in fact the FBI that investigated and went after the perpetrators of the original bombing of the World Trade Center. This all changed following 9/11.

The manner in which these folks are classified by our court system is vital to the prosecution of the entire GWOT. If the court system treats them as criminals, then an attorney could argue that they are always criminals no matter where we come into contact with them.

Let's just imagine we have a regular fugitive and they are captured abroad. Our government is not allowed to torture that individual while they are abroad. Any information gathered from said suspect must follow the normal rules of criminal procedure or not be admissable in court.

By classifying these folks as criminals once they arrive in the U.S., President Elect Obama has opened the door to have these folks classified as criminals wherever they are. This opens the door for our military having to go so far as to read suspects their rights when they are detained on the battlefield, or have any information not be admissable in court. This means lawyers would always have to be available. It means that suspects could end any interrogation by simply asking for a lawyer, no matter where they are being interrogated.

The biggest danger is that President Obama is likely to choose judges that view the status of Al Qaeda the exact same way as he does. This opens the door to having hudreds of judges dismissing evidence, dismissing cases, and letting terrorists go free, if their arrest, interrogation, and investigation didn't follow proper criminal procedure.

It is of course lunacy to list Al Qaeda as criminals. FDR didn't prosecute the NAZI's in criminal court. Even Lincoln didn't prosecute the Confederacy in criminal courts. The distinction, legally, between a suspected criminal and a suspected enemy combatant (especially an illegal one) in a war is huge. You don't need a judge's permission to spy on your enemy in a war. You need one if you are trying to listen in on a potential suspect. You don't need a judge's permission to search the person or place of an enemy in war. You certainly need one to search a potential criminal suspect.

This opens up the pandora's box so that intelligence gathering will be near impossible. In fact, some lawyer out there could even likely outlaw the term intelligence gathering, and instead force it to be called criminal investigation. If Barack Obama fills the courts with like minded judges, we will also see these same judges apply their criminal status to more and more situations. Soon, we will literally have to read suspects their rights on the battlefield. Doing this will make intelligence gathering of new attacks nearly impossible. It will create exactly the kind of holes that caused 9/11 to begin with. This policy is dangerous, and in my opinion, soon, it will cost thousands of American lives.