[GPSCC-chat] The "New Normal"

[Brian Good]

    Obama
Risks Establishing Bush's Worst Policies as "New Normal",
Says ACLU Report

The Obama administration is in danger of enshrining
permanently into law some of the most egregious Bush-era policies,
continuing military commissions and indefinite detention and creating
a troubling "new normal", says a new ACLU report.  Obama
has also employed the "state secrets" doctrine to block
lawsuits brought by torture survivors, reasserted broad surveillance
powers and expanded Bush's "targeted killing" program to
kill terrorism suspects, including American citizens, wherever they
are located, without due process. 


"We strongly urge the president to shift course,"
said Anthony D. Romero, Executive Director of the ACLU, "and
renew his commitment to the fundamental values that are the very
foundation of our nation's strength and security."  The report
finds a pattern of positive steps followed by setbacks:  torture
memos were released, but the photos of prisoner abuse were not; the
decision to close Guantánamo was followed by the reassertion of the
authority for indefinite detentions without charge or trial;
declarations prohibiting torture were followed by failure to hold top
Bush officials accountable.

Obama should "discourage any
legislation that would institutionalize policies that were widely
regarded as unlawful under President Bush," said Laura W.
Murphy, Director of the ACLU Washington Legislative Office. "It
is not too late for President Obama to build a legacy of justice and
fairness."  Entrenchment of the Bush 'global war' framework 
presents "a profound threat to human rights and the rule of
law," said Jameel Jaffer, ACLU Deputy Legal Director. 
"President Obama should not make 'global war' the new normal."


The report, "Establishing a New Normal" is available
online at: www.aclu.org/national-security/establishing-new-normal




 		 	   		  
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