David Bowker--a lawyer in the State Department who was part of a "working group" that the Bush adminstration set up shortly after 9-11--has recounted that Dick Cheney and his lawyer David Addington (with the assistance of other Bush apologists such as John Yoo) were looking to "find the legal equivalent of outer space" in their efforts to ensure that captured foreign fighters and terror suspects would have only minimal (if any) legal rights while in U.S. Custody (see here for details). The goal of Bowker's working group was not only to ensure that these individuals would have as few legal rights as possible, it was also to ensure that American courts would be powerless to intervene. Luckily, the recent decision in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld seems to have temporarily brought an end to the "lawless universe" the Bushies tried to create.
Recent Comments