"ALL CAPS IN DEFENSE OF LIBERTY IS NO VICE."

Sunday, June 19, 2005

McCAIN, GITMO, AND EICHMANN

McCain was on MTP today; (ASIDE: MTP is one of a several MSM shows hosted by former Democrat operatives; I can't think of ONE hosted by a former GOP operative).

As usual, McCain said some good things and some bad things.

A good thing he said: the prisoners on Gitmo are NOT being mistreated and Durbin MUST apologize.

A bad thing he said: that (paraphrasing) "all the prisoners on Gitmo should have their cases adjudicated - that even Adolph Eichmann had a trial."

Well, Senator: Eichmann's trial - and the trial of ALL the other NAZIS came AFTER THE WAR WAS OVER.

SO MAY IT BE FOR THE DETAINEES AT GITMO: they can be legally held until after the war is over, and they SHOULD BE, TOO!

Until the enemy has capitulated and ceased all hostilities the detainees are potentially future adversaries THE MOMENT they are released.

As for "adjudication": they are enemy combatants, not defendants; the GWOT is a REAL WAR which will last a generation OR MORE; the war must be won by KILLING AND OTHERWISE DESTROYING THE ENEMY AND THEIR WILL TO FIGHT, and it will not be won by sending in the FBI and arresting a few terrorists and having a few trials. CLINTON DID THAT AND IT FAILED!

McCain was most annoying when - like all politically motivated "moderates" - he tried to have his cake and eat it too. ALSO EDIFYING: how many bills he sponsors with Democrat Liberals like Kennedy and Kerry. To some, this may seem bi-partisan; to other more perceptive folks, it's obviously opportunistic. Unfortunately, the bills are ALL BAD: an immigration amnesty bill; a so-called "greenhouse-gas" bill; and a C.A.F.E. standards bill. They're all bi-partisan and they're ALL BAD.

BOTTOM-LINE: McCain is a LIBERAL HAWK. Which is better than a LIBERAL DOVE, but not as good as a conservative hawk.

UPDATE: JAY NORDLINGER heard McCain use this Eichmann analogy in February at DAVOS; here's what Nordlinger reported at NRO:
McCain is a "try 'em or release 'em" man. How you try terrorists nabbed on the Afghan battlefield, he does not venture to say. He does say, "Even Eichmann got a trial," which is one of the cheapest things I have ever heard out of a politician's mouth.
I agree: cheap and WRONG and IMMORAL and.... well you get the idea!

UPDATE - 6/20: The INCREDIBLE MICHELE MALKIN has more - including links and IMPORTANT details... LIKE THE FACT THAT ALL THE GITMO DETAINEES HAVE HAD HEARINGS BEFORE A TRIBUNAL, (something McCain called for on MTP, and something the normally cogent Congressman JANE HARMON called for this AM on FNC!)!

No comments: