Bryan Strawser

Yesterday’s New York Times covers the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruling that military commission trials are fair under the Constitution:

Judge Robertson had held that the commissions could not go on because they did not provide minimally fair procedures and violated international law. His conclusion threw into doubt the legal proceedings devised by the administration to deal with hundreds of suspected terrorists captured by the United States in Afghanistan during the military campaign that toppled the Taliban following the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

President Bush has declared all Taliban and Al Qaeda fighters to be unlawful enemy combatants, and as such not entitled to be treated as legitimate prisoners of war.

Critics of the administration have argued that the military commission trials do not afford all the legal protections that courts-martial do. But in the appeal upheld today, the administration argued that the commission trials were fair - and not incidentally a vital part of its war on terrorism - and that since the stateless Qaeda terror network had never signed the Geneva Convention, its members were not entitled to the protections afforded prisoners of war, which include the right not to be put on trial for hostilities.

Administration lawyers had argued that Judge Robertson, in conferring Geneva Convention protections on Mr. Hamdan and by extension others like him, had “put terrorism on the same legal footing as legitimate methods of waging war.”

Those “legitimate methods,” as described in the Convention, include wearing uniforms to distinguish fighters from civilians and prohibitions against making civilians targets. The administration argued that Al Qaeda fighters had openly defied the Convention.

The court also ruled that Al Qaeda fighters were not prisoners of war - they were illegal combatants.

Take that.

A couple serious thinkers, such as Lex, have asked lately the two burning questions all of us should be faced with right now:

Can we win?

Or.. Can we lose?

And the answer to both of these questions is yes.

I’m the son of a Vietnam veteran, the grandson of two World War II veterans. Both of these experiences weigh heavily in my own thoughts and feelings about the conflict that we find ourselves in today.

World War II was undeniably the good fight - where right triumphed, with great sacrifice, over wrong. Millions died, not a few of them Americans and our allies. Great sacrifices were made on many fronts. All that we had as a nation was poured into that war.

Vietnam was another story. Our nation was sorely divided over our role in the conflict between North and South Vietnam - and the aftermath on our nation and on our military took years to recover.

The shadow of Vietnam looks over everything that we do today.

I firmly believe that regardless of the current situation that we have done the right things as a nation since 9/11. Going after the first sanctuary of terrorism in Afghanistan was the right thing to do - and confronting Iraq and taking military action such as we have done was also the right thing to do.

I believe this because I believe that our nation’s outlook on what it would take to defend our people, our territory, and our interests changed significantly - we could no longer take the risk that a nation like Iraq could possess weapons of mass destruction - so we took that government out.

But even more importantly, these actions combined, over the long term, will change the long term outlook of this region - the power structure of what makes up the Middle East will change and change in huge ways in years to come… if we are successful in Iraq and Afghanistan.

In these areas, I believe we are on the path to victory.. we can win.. but it is not going to be easy.

And this is where I think we can lose.

I think that since Vietnam, we’ve lacked a certain sense of will and determination overall. It was obvious during World War II that it was there.. Korea a bit less so, Vietnam clearly not so overtime. Even during Operation Desert Storm you saw the warnings about massive casualties and major defeat for our forces…

I fear that we’re in for a long multi-year struggle that will take place on many fronts - economically, politically, and militarily - it will happen on distant battlefields, on the high seas, on airplanes and airports, in shopping malls and subway trains, but most importantly around our own dinner tables. As we saw in London, the terrorists are going to bring this battle into our backyards - it’s only a matter of time before we see suicide bombings here in the United States.. and that’s a day as a professional that I dread…

But the most important conversations are those that will happen around our dinner tables, around the grill in the backyard with the neighbors, and in our own living rooms - it’s about being prepared for the battle ahead - and the long road it will take to be safe and secure in our nation and around the world.

It’s not going to happen overnight - it’s not going to be easy - but we have no choice but to engage the world and those trouble spots in this conflict. That’s where the left is dead wrong - and where I fear if we listen to their arguments - and travel down their path - that we’ll lose.

And that cost will be too high for us to bear.

This post, and it’s predecessor, brought by you by the Black Rose at Boston’s Fanueil Hall, co-sponsored by Guinness and Harp, the only beers of choice.

The Black Rose is the quintessential Boston Irish Bar. And the decor, the servers, the food, and the service show it. But this is just the prelude.

Tonight, the sidekick and I head to Sandrine’s for dinner. Oh joyous joy. Choucrote and some other treats from Alsace. mmmmm

My first observation of Retired Vice Admiral James Stockdale was the 1992 Vice Presidential debate - which is likely when many Americans of my generation first saw the man. It wasn’t until years later that I realized the type of individual that Ross Perot wanted as his Vice President.

Admiral Stockdale was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for his actions as the highest ranking officer amongst a group of American prisoners of war held during the Vietnam War, his citation reads:

For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while senior naval officer in the Prisoner of War camps of North Vietnam.

Recognized by his captors as the leader in the Prisoners’ of War resistance to interrogation and in their refusal to participate in propaganda exploitation, Rear Adm. Stockdale was singled out for interrogation and attendant torture after he was detected in a covert communications attempt. Sensing the start of another purge, and aware that his earlier efforts at self-disfiguration to dissuade his captors from exploiting him for propaganda purposes had resulted in cruel and agonizing punishment, Rear Adm. Stockdale resolved to make himself a symbol of resistance regardless of personal sacrifice. He deliberately inflicted a near-mortal wound to his person in order to convince his captors of his willingness to give up his life rather than capitulate. He was subsequently discovered and revived by the North Vietnamese who, convinced of his indomitable spirit, abated in their employment of excessive harassment and torture toward all of the Prisoners of War.

By his heroic action, at great peril to himself, he earned the everlasting gratitude of his fellow prisoners and of his country. Rear Adm. Stockdale’s valiant leadership and extraordinary courage in a hostile environment sustain and enhance the finest traditions of the U.S. Naval Service.

Men such as this don’t walk on this earth very often.

Rest in peace, Admiral.

President Bush, as quoted by the New York Times earlier this week:

Mr. Bush said that there was “total transparency” at the Guantánamo Bay detention center in Cuba and that the International Red Cross was free to inspect the center at any time. To those Europeans skeptical of his claims, Mr. Bush said he would “suggest buying an airplane ticket” and going to “take a look for yourself.”

It’s important, however, that those engaged in terrorism realize that our determination to defend our values and our way of life is greater than their determination to cause death and destruction to innocent people in a desire to impose extremism on the world.

Whatever they do, it is our determination that they will never succeed in destroying what we hold dear in this country and in other civilized nations throughout the world.

- Tony Blair, Prime Minister, The United Kingdom

Finally, I wish to speak directly to those who came to London today to take life.

I know that you personally do not fear giving up your own life in order to take others - that is why you are so dangerous. But I know you fear that you may fail in your long-term objective to destroy our free society and I can show you why you will fail.

In the days that follow look at our airports, look at our sea ports and look at our railway stations and, even after your cowardly attack, you will see that people from the rest of Britain, people from around the world will arrive in London to become Londoners and to fulfill their dreams and achieve their potential.

They choose to come to London, as so many have come before because they come to be free, they come to live the life they choose, they come to be able to be themselves. They flee you because you tell them how they should live. They don’t want that and nothing you do, however many of us you kill, will stop that flight to our city where freedom is strong and where people can live in harmony with one another. Whatever you do, however many you kill, you will fail.

- London Mayor Ken Livingstone

“I want to say one thing: This was not a terrorist attack against the mighty or the powerful, it is not aimed at presidents or prime ministers, it was aimed at ordinary working-class Londoners. That isn’t an ideology, it isn’t even a perverted faith, it’s mass murder.”

- London Mayor Ken Livingstone

Photo by the Sidekick with the new Nikon D70.