Legal Process Begins At Guantanamo Bay

The wheels of justice start turning at Club Gitmo, otherwise known as Guantanamo Bay, for the first  detainee.

The Office of Military Commissions announced today that charges have been sworn against Guantanamo detainee Ahmed Mohammed Ahmed Haza al Darbi of Saudi Arabia. The accused, al Darbi, is the brother-in-law of the Flight 77 hijacker al Mihdhar. Flight 77 is the plane that hit the Pentagon on 9/11.

The sworn charges are: Conspiring with others , to attack civilians, to murder in violation of the law of war, to destroy property in violation of the law of war, to hazard a vessel and to commit terrorism, and Providing Material Support to Terrorism. Mr. al Darbi was allegedly involved in planning attacks on a vessels in the Strait of Hormuz and off the coast of Yemen.

I’m sure he’s a really nice guy who was abused as a child by his father.  Ah, but I could be wrong.  At any rate, the enemy combatants down there are about to have their day in court in the form of a military commission.  The last time this was done was in World War II.

related link: Guantanamo detainee charged  |  Please, Don’t Pet The Terrorist

H.R. 6, The Energy Bill That Isn’t

True to form, the highly touted energy bill does zip, zero, nada towards getting more energy. If thelightbulb politicians were honest, they would have called it a conservation bill. The highlights of the bill are changing light bulbs, mixing bio-fuels with fossil fuels, and squeezing the auto industry into the go-cart business. OK, the last one is a bit of hyperbole, but it is a prime example of the upside-down thinking in how to solve our demand for energy by nationalizing the auto industry without actually nationalizing the auto industry.

The government’s Energy Information Administration reports that U.S. crude oil field production declined to 1.9 billion barrels in 2005 from 3.5 billion in 1970, and the share of our oil that is imported has increased to 60% from 27% in 1985.

In a purely economic sense, this bill does nothing to increase supply and everything to limit demand, as if we can conserve our way out of being dependent on foreign oil.

And from a March 2005 post, Energy Policy Isn’t . . .

For the liberals and the democrats in general, it seems their idea of an energy policy is to do whatever you can to not use it. But more than that, it’s also important not to get it. We declare oil and coal fields national parks. How does that reduce dependence on foreign oil? It’s been over 3 years now that the President’s energy policy has been ignored. The time for a change is long overdue.

Absolutely nothing has changed.

related links: H.R. 6 | The Energy Policy That Isn’t | Energy Policy Isn’t | Fossil Fuels Out-Green Biofuels | Good Intentions Gone Bad, Biofuel, A Liberal Record Of Failure