According to several news sources (here's one: http://www.news8austin.com/content/headlines/?ArID=124321&SecID=2), Bush just selected Alberto Gonzales to be his new Attorney
General. I don't know too much about him, but he did recommend to the
President (in his role as "counsel") that the U.S. not be bound by the
provisions of the Geneva Convention in dealing with prisoners of war. He
also was counsel to Enron. Read below for what a
friend has to say about him:
"Gonzales had been Enron chief counsel
before whole thing broke, but not before illegal practices started. i am not
sure exactly what role he played in setting up the shell game there but i do
know he drafted the briefs suggesting that at Gitmo there was no need to
uphold Geneva conventions--and this later got extended out to Afghanistan and
the Iraq. lots of stuff on this by Seymour Hirsch (sp?) in the New Yorker over
the past year or so... basically the argument is that enemy combatants do not
require the same sorts of legal protections as POWs...which is bogus and is also
getting people like McCain and Powell up in arms because if it doesn't apply to
the folks we're grabbing, then why should it apply to US POWS?"
If you're interested
in defeating his nomination in the senate, write your senators and
representative now. Even if you're not, here's a good site to know
about:
At the Constitution Center's website, there's a button called
"Citizen Action" where you can write to your senators and rep. and the pres. in
one fell swoop. Very useful for this type of thing, no cutting or pasting
involved.
Forward
widely. I want people to know about the Constitution Center site for
whatever issues they care to communicate about. Our senators need to know
more than ever how we wish to be represented.
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