Tuesday, November 22, 2005

Rule of law applied, no sign of Armageddon

For several years since the beginning of the war on civil liberties, some have argued that suspected terrorists can not be tried via the normal judicial system. For some reason, they were convinced that if those detained for suspected involvement in terrorism had to face a judge and jury and was accorded the same due process as any other criminal suspected, Armageddon would thrash us with more fury than a Dick Cheney condemnation.

The government has FINALLY indicted suspected dirty bomber Jose Padilla. Padilla had spent three years as a kidnapee while being imprisoned without charge.

The strange thing is this. The government finally decided to get around to granting Padilla due process and applying the rule of law. Granted, it took the government three years before they granted Padilla the 'right' to defend himself and answer the serious charges against him but contrary to the predictions of the anti-freedom right, the sky has not fallen just because we decided to treat a suspected terrorist in a constitutional manner.


Update: What's even more interesting and curious is this passage from the article:

absent from the indictment were the sensational allegations made earlier by top Justice Department officials: that Padilla sought to blow up U.S. hotels and apartment buildings and planned an attack on America with a radiological "dirty bomb."

Doesn't reflect well on the Justice Department's credibility, does it?

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