A Deadly Decision

In a landmark decision, the Supreme Court ruled that habeas corpus protections apply to detainees held at Guantanamo Bay, and this decision in my mind describes a lack of understanding of the unusual characteristics of the global war on terror we are engaged in across the globe.

Although many folks are clamoring for the immediate closure of the facility at Guantanamo Bay, claiming abuse and mistreatment of prisoners, I have been and remain quite comfortable with it in full operation. Chief Justice Roberts, Justice Scalia, Justice Alito and Justice Thomas apparently are as well.

Justice Clarence Thomas with Dr. Tom Osborne at Nebraska spring game in April 2008

Evidence of mistreatment of prisoners, outside of a disgraceful incident in which guilty parties were swiftly disciplined, is scarce. The prisoners potentially being mistreated are not members of a national army (although Iran is working hard at it), they are made up of mostly Islamic terrorists that spend every hour of every day plotting our demise.

Justice Anthony Kennedy, writing for the majority said, "We hold these petitioners do have the habeas corpus privilege". If the goings on at my local courthouse are any barometer to what we can look forward to, this will be nothing short of a disaster, and perhaps a deadly one.

Particularly troubling is the negative effect on the global war on terror that may be an unintended consequence of the majority as it comes to evidence against the detainees becoming public and therefore putting our troops potentially at a potentially deadly disadvantage.

Dissenting Judge Antonin Scalia has it dead on as he wrote "The game of bait-and-switch that (today’s) opinion plays upon the Nation’s Commander in Chief will make the war harder on us. It will almost certainly cause more Americans to be killed." Justice Scalia concluded by saying "The Nation will live to regret what the Court has done today. I dissent."

While the Democrats along with the terrorists rejoice, I think we could solve the issue by taking out terrorists on the battlefield while we are crushing them rather than rounding them up as prisoners. Mission Accomplished! Again.