Holder: Bin Laden To Get Same Rights As Charles Manson

In an exchange with House Republicans on Capitol Hill yesterday, Attorney General Eric Holder was addressing concerns regarding enemy combatants receiving constitutional protections. That's when the following gem came rolling out of his mouth.



There seems to be this theme with the current administration, and unfortunately that theme is a fundamental misunderstanding of the Constitution of the United States. As an enemy combatant, OBL or any other militant is not granted any constitutional protection, as they are NOT citizens of the United States. Supplying legal rights to unlawful enemy combatants endangers soldiers of every nation who follow the Geneva Convention and rules of war currently:

Granting unwarranted legal rights puts soldiers and civilians at risk by rewarding treachery with privilege. Unlawful enemy combatants – individuals who do not adhere to the traditional laws or customs of war – are not entitled to Prisoner of War (POW) status or the full protections of the Geneva Conventions, let alone unfettered access to U.S. courts. Summarily granting them these privileges would cripple the integrity of the laws of war. Enemies will be less inclined to follow the rules if they suffer no consequences for breaking them. Contrary views rely on guilt-ridden, utopian thinking that says America deserves her enemies and that they will love and forswear violence against her if only she just meets some indeterminate but much higher standard of justice and fair play. When only one side plays by the rules on a battlefield, that side is likely to disproportionately suffer from illegal acts of war.

Unfortunately, this administration is all too willing to abandon the voice of reason and sanity as well as the rule of law for the voice of it's political base.

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