Sunday, December 6, 2009

Obama Administration Actually on the Right Side Again

Continuing with my policy of giving Obama credit for the (few) things he gets right, I noticed that the administration is opposing a lawsuit on behalf of two former Saudi detainees that died at Guantanamo. The two committed suicide by hanging themselves back in 2006. Naturally their families think they should be able to cash in by blaming the U.S. government and filing a lawsuit.

The lawyers for the two men allege that torture and brutal conditions at the offshore prison led the men to their deaths.
This follows the usual policy where terrorist suspects make unsubstantiated claims of "torture" and brutality. It only differs in that the suspects are usually alive to make such transparently self-serving claims. It's pretty obvious that the U.S. can't be held responsible for people committing suicide, and that it's impossible to determine with any certainty why they did it. And the actual circumstances are irrelevant, since enemy combatants are not and should not be entitled to file civil lawsuits in U.S. court.
the government says the two men whose deaths were ruled suicide, Yassar Talal al-Zahrani and Salah Ali Abdullah Ahmed al-Salami, were properly detained as enemy combatants and therefore their families' lawsuit is barred from the court system.
The Obama administration sometimes crosses over into the terrorist rights supporter camp, but not this time. The administration gets many things wrong. It's worth noting when it gets something right.

1 comment:

  1. Glad to see the White House having some sense. Hopefully it continues

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