Cheney's fingerprints all over Hick's sentencing
Shaun Mullen at TMV points us to the latest intriguing wrinkle in the sentencing of allegedly dangerous terrorist David Hicks. It appears Hicks sweet deal was cut without the knowledge of the prosecutors.
Cheney recently visited Howard in Australia. Howard was under political pressure at home to resolve the case. The US military commision official who signed off the deal, Susan J. Crawford, was the Defense Department's inspector general from 1989 to 1991, when Cheney was defense secretary. Odd coincidences, wouldn't you say?
GUANTANAMO BAY, Cuba, March 31 -- The plea deal that allows Australian David M. Hicks to leave the detention facility here with a nine-month sentence was negotiated between defense attorneys and the convening authority for military commissions without the knowledge of prosecutors, lawyers from both sides said.The prosecutors were thinking no less than seven years and the idea of a life sentence had been widely floated previous to the backroom manueverings that will set Hicks free shortly after Australian Prime Minister John Howard's reelection campaign is over. It's not that hard to connect the dots here from Cheney to the outcome.
The deal shows that the politically appointed authority has the power to personally decide the fate of America's most notorious terrorism suspects.
Cheney recently visited Howard in Australia. Howard was under political pressure at home to resolve the case. The US military commision official who signed off the deal, Susan J. Crawford, was the Defense Department's inspector general from 1989 to 1991, when Cheney was defense secretary. Odd coincidences, wouldn't you say?
Labels: Cheney, Guantanamo, rule of law
posted by Libby Spencer at 12:34 PM
2 Comments:
I remember when Cheney was answering questions in Australia about the process at Gitmo and his possible involvement.
He carefully placed his two sets of fingers against each other and then studiuously pointed out that he operated in a distinctly separate part of the system which had no connection with the "legal" part of the process - so it was "impossible for him to do anything".
I can picture it Ray. Of course, Cheney also thinks he's the fourth branch of government and answerable to no one.
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