Ain’t No Cure for Stupid
By Jim Marcinkowski on March 29, 2007 at 10:18 PM in Current Affairs
by
Jim Marcinkowski
As an attorney, you may not always get a client that you are philosophically aligned with, who is pleasant or in many, many cases, who is not guilty as hell. Your job is not to protect the guilty but to protect the system under which the guilty get convicted. It’s a matter of principle in the process and credibility in the result.
So let’s pick an international jury to determine the legitimacy of the confessions of terror mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed (KSM) and British sailor Faye Turney.
On Friday, March 26, 2007, the Iranians seized 15 British sailors and marines claiming that they were transgressing into Iranian waters. We all know they were not. But, by mid-week sailor Turney is seen on international television “acknowledging” the transgression in both oral and written statements.
Meanwhile, just a couple of weeks earlier at Camp X-ray, the United States rolls out KSM who confesses to the 911 plot, every major attempted terrorist attack around the world in the past decade and probably the kidnapping of the Lindberg baby if he were given enough time. The Lindberg baby aside, KSM is probably responsible for many of these events and should pay the ultimate price.
But, and it’s a huge “but,” we have an international jury to convince.
So let’s see: KSM was held in secret prisons for four years, says he was tortured for most of that time (but for the past six months at Guantanamo), did not have access to an attorney, was never pictured on television for all the world to see his physical condition and was denied every single right this country grants to every other serial killer.
Sailor Turney on the otherhand, was depicted on international television not a week after being seized eating dinner with her fellow sailors, smoking a cigarette and appearing unharmed and uncoerced. She also provided a written statement confessing to have intruded upon and violated Iranian territorial waters.
Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I ask you? Who do you believe: the confession of a person who was held out of sight in secret prisons for four years? Who claims to have been tortured for most of that time? Who was denied access to a lawyer or any legal process? Do you want to believe the United States government who clearly misled its own citizens into a war with Iraq? A government who is responsible for the horrendous activities at Abu Ghraib prison? A government that is now threatening Iran? Or do you want to believe Iran.
Ok, so they are not the most friendly regime, but did they not let the entire world see Sailor Turney and her comrades almost immediately? Did she appear beaten to you? Did they use torture techniques so much more advanced than the United States that they were able to extract a full confession within a matter of days? So who, international jury, do you believe: the United States and the confession of KSM, or Iran and the confession of Seaman Turney? Most of my career was spent as a prosecutor. The very last thing I would want to do is give the defense ANY ammunition that could be used against me.
But that is exactly what the buffoons in the Bush Whitehouse running our foreign policy just plain don’t get. Of course the “tough guy” approach with KSM will resonate with the Republican right-wing and others on the domestic political front who in their gut want payback for 911. That’s understandable, even expected, but not from those who purport to be our leaders. Playing on domestic fears and the innate desire for retribution will ensure the viability of the Republican Party, but it does nothing for the credibility and future security of the Unites States.
The threat against the United States by any measure is growing. Remember that after Afghanistan we had 80 percent of al Qaida dismantled or destroyed, yet today we see an incredible resurgence of that organization. To counter a world-wide threat we will need world-wide credibility and cooperation. We must stand on our fundamental principles as a country and serve as an example for the entire world to see in order to obtain that cooperation. Cooperation will come because we stand for something better. Instead this Administration has destroyed our principle of due process and credibility of result, lost trust with many around the world, provided new motivation to those who would do us harm, advanced the cause of our enemies and thereby irreparably damaged the security of the American people. Are we really making America safer?
As my grandfather used to say, "Boy, there just ain’t no cure for stupid."
by Ronald Scott
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