Terrorists 5.5 Years, Border Guards 10 Years Plus

Justice

Am I nuts?

I have to be, because you see, I don’t get how the United States Judicial system can exist, without being torn down by the very people it is supposed to protect. I mean I think I understand the concept of One Law for Everyone, and I certainly understand that charging and trying Prisoners of War is against the Geneva Convention, let alone the use of Torture on them, but you convict a terrorist, give him 5 1/2 years for his crime, but you put your own Border Patrol Agents in jail for Over Ten Years?

(CBS/ AP) A U.S. military jury gave Osama bin Laden’s driver a surprisingly light sentence on Thursday, making him eligible for release in just five months despite the prosecutors’ request for at least a 30-year sentence to deter would-be terrorists. (source - CBS News)

According to Bush, those being held at Gitmo were dangerous terrorists, who needed to be held no matter what. Now here is a Tribunal basically saying that time served is sufficient punishment for his role in being a driver for the elusive Bin Laden. Yet at the same time the United States Appeals Court ruled that Campion & Ramos were properly tried and that their sentence to over ten years each was just and reasonable. It went further, to state that even if the history of the key witness was know, it wouldn’t make any difference to the outcome of the trial.

George Bush commuted the 30 month sentence of Scooter Libby who lied and obstructed Justice in the Plume case, where basically she was outed for being a spy, put at risk, and no longer has a job, all because her husband disagreed with Bush. Libby got a commutation, because George Bush thought that he had suffered enough, having to pay a huge fine, and having to live with possibly going to Jail.

The two border agents are or were in solitary confinement because they were targets of attack from day one of their incarceration, but they haven’t suffered enough, least in the eyes of George W. Bush.

So could someone who supports this dictator, explain just how does the US Justice System work? Is it by what the higher ups tell the judges to do, as was the case in Hitler’s Nazi Germany? It sure does seem that way, I mean the Appeals Judges all were quite shocked at Johnny Sutton’s case, in their questioning of him, then took months to make their ruling. One has to wonder, was undue pressure applied by the Attorney General or his subordinates? After all, they have a history of playing politics with appointing Federal Prosecutors.

While I am not a lawyer, it would seem to me that both cases should never have reached Trial. I mean this guy was captured, as a combatant, & from what little I know, you can’t try Prisoners of War for crimes committed outside of their capture. I also don’t see how you can try two Border Patrol Agents for pursuing a drug smuggler, firing at him, and hiding the details. Under their rules, it was an Administrative Disciplinary Infraction, so instead they get charged with discharging a firearm in the commission of a crime?

Ian @ August 8, 2008