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Center for American Progress - Progress Report

 

by David Sirota, Christy Harvey, Judd Legum and

Jonathan Baskin

 

 

August 13, 2004

CIVIL LIBERTIES The Hamdi Flip-Flop

TERRORISM Cheney's 'Sensitive' Hypocrisy

Under the Radar

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CIVIL LIBERTIES Major Combat Operations Continue

For two-and-a-half years, the administration has held

U.S. citizen Yaser Hamdi incommunicado on a naval brig

in South Carolina, where he has been denied access to

his lawyers, subjected to interrogation and completely

cut off from the outside world. Just four months ago,

the administration told the Supreme Court that the

extraordinary conditions of Hamdi's confinement, which

didn't include any semblance of normal legal

protections, were " crucial to national security and

the war on terror. " But after the Supreme Court ruled

that " a state of war is not a blank check for the

president " and rejected the administration's position,

the Justice Department is singing an entirely

different tune. Rather than trying to charge Hamdi

with a crime, " administration lawyers told a judge

Wednesday that they were negotiating arrangements to

send him back to his family. " The Washington Post

asks, " if such an arrangement is now possible, why was

it a matter of such grave national security concern to

keep Mr. Hamdi from meeting with his lawyer for so

long in the first place? "

 

ADMINISTRATION WANTS HAMDI TO AGREE NOT TO SUE BEFORE

RELEASE: Negotiations on the terms of Hamdi's release

are still being ironed out. The administration is

trying to get Hamdi " to agree not to sue the federal

government over whether his civil rights were

violated " as a condition of his release. Also under

negotiation is whether he wears " an orange jumpsuit or

civilian clothes. " The government is also considering

requiring Hamdi, who is also a citizen of Saudi

Arabia, to renounce his U.S. citizenship.

 

THREE YEARS LATER, MILITARY DECIDES TO REVIEW STATUS

OF GITMO DETAINEES: In an effort to stave off further

legal setbacks, the Pentagon is finally giving all 585

detainees at Guantanamo Bay a hearing " to determine

whether prisoners should be freed or remain jailed. "

The detainees, some of whom have been held for nearly

three years, were not permitted to be represented by

lawyers in the hearings, which started two weeks ago.

While the military reviews are a step in the right

direction, " they fail to satisfy a recent ruling by

the U.S. Supreme Court that says the prisoners have a

right to contest their detentions in U.S. civilian

courts. Yesterday a Kuwaiti detainee appearing before

the review panel said " he worked for an Islamic

Charity in Afghanistan and...he had no connection to

terrorist organizations. "

 

PROBLEMS EXTEND WORLDWIDE: But the mistreatment of

Hamdi and the detainees held at Guantanamo Bay is only

the tip of the iceberg. Robert Gard and Deborah

Pearlstein write in the San Francisco Chronicle, " the

lawlessness surrounding the global system of U.S.

detentions is not limited to a few well-known

prisons. " According to a recent report by Human Rights

First " there are approximately two dozen offshore U.S.

detention facilities in numerous countries that

operate largely in secrecy. " At a number of these

facilities, the administration has denied access to

the International Red Cross to prevent it from

monitoring the treatment of prisoners. These secret

detentions highlight " a painfully evident disconnect

between U.S. words supporting democracy and open

societies and American deeds. "

 

TERRORISM Cheney's 'Sensitive' Hypocrisy

In yet another effort to put politics over substance,

Vice President Dick Cheney yesterday blasted Sen. John

Kerry (D) for his comments earlier this week insisting

that America must be more " sensitive " to allies and

American citizens' concerns in the " war on terror. "

Cheney's retort: " America has been in too many wars

for any of our wishes, but not a one of them was won

by being sensitive. " He went on: " A 'sensitive war'

will not destroy the evil men who killed 3,000

Americans and who seek the chemical, nuclear and

biological weapons to kill hundreds of thousands

more. " Cheney's attack could have been leveled at

himself and others in the Bush administration, both of

whom have frequently used the " s " word. See these

other examples of how Cheney's cheap political attack

contradicts his own stated positions on military

affairs and social issues.

 

PRESIDENT BUSH STRESSES NEED TO BE " SENSITIVE " IN

MILTARY AFFAIRS: On 3/4/01, President Bush stressed

the need to be " sensitive " in conducting military

affairs, stating, " because America is powerful, we

must be sensitive about expressing our power and

influence. " And just last week, President Bush said,

" In terms of the balance between running down

intelligence and bringing people to justice obviously

is -- we need to be very sensitive on that. "

 

SPECIAL FORCES STATE NEED TO FIGHT " SENSITIVE WAR ON

TERRORISM " : The Bush campaign's latest salvo, while

aimed at Kerry, also is an attack on the military's

top special forces commanders. On 7/20/04, the Bush

administration sent one of the Air Force's top special

forces officers to Capitol Hill to assuage concerns

about tactics being used in the War on Terror. In his

testimony, Chief Master Sgt. Robert Martens reassured

Republican Chairman Rep. Jim Saxton (R-NJ) that " our

special operators offer a seasoned, culturally

sensitive war on terrorism. "

 

VICE PRESIDENT CHENEY SAYS MILITARY MUST NOT BE

INSENSITIVE: On 4/13/04, Cheney said the Bush

administration was focused on conducting sensitive

military operations. He stated, " We recognize that the

presence of U.S. forces can in some cases present a

burden on the local community. We're not insensitive

to that. We work almost on a continual basis with the

local officials to remove points of friction and

reduce the extent to which problems arise in terms of

those relationships. "

 

RUMSFELD STRESSES NEED TO BE " SENSITIVE " IN THE WAR:

In the lead up to the Iraq war and afterwards,

Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld promised the

Pentagon would be " sensitive. " On 2/5/03, he said " we

have to be sensitive, to the extent the world thinks

the United States is focused on the problems in Iraq,

it's conceivable that someone could make a mistake and

believe that that's an opportunity for them to take an

action which they otherwise would have avoided. " On

7/9/03, he reassured the public that his department

was being " sensitive " to troop needs during the war.

He said U.S. commanders are " sensitive to the

importance of troops knowing what the rotation plan

will be so they have some degree of certainty in their

lives. And [they] are sensitive to the importance of

the quality of their lives. "

 

GEN. RICHARD MYERS SAYS MILITARY NEEDS TO BE

" SENSITIVE " IN WAR: On 10/31/01, Gen. Richard Myers,

Bush's chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was

asked about whether the military would be " sensitive "

to religious issues in prosecuting the War on Terror.

He said " We are, I think, very culturally sensitive. "

On 1/7/03, Myers touted the Army's ability to be

" sensitive. " He said " we can ask of our troops to go

out there and be, on the one hand, very sensitive to

cultural issues, on the other hand, be ready to

respond in self-defense to a very ticklish situation,

all at the same time. " On 11/19/03, Myers said U.S.

troops " are very sensitive to the balance between

appropriate military action and not trying to turn the

average Iraqi against the coalition. "

 

GEN. TOMMY FRANKS SAID THE WHITE HOUSE MADE SURE TO BE

" SENSITIVE " : On 7/10/03, Gen. Tommy Franks went to

Capitol Hill to answer questions about the War on

Terror. He said the Bush administration explicitly

understood the " sensitive " need for the U.S. to

continue pursuing al Qaeda in Afghanistan, instead of

appearing like it was solely focused on Iraq. Franks

said, " Everyone from the president to Secretary

Rumsfeld right through me were very sensitive, to be

sure, that our operations moved ahead in Afghanistan

in parallel with what we were doing in Iraq. "

 

ASHCROFT CLAIMS THE ADMINISTRATION IS BEING

" SENSITIVE " IN WAR ON TERROR: Attorney General John

Ashcroft has repeatedly stressed the need for the Bush

administration to be " sensitive " in fighting the War

on Terror. On 4/28/03, just a month after the U.S.

invasion of Iraq, Ashcroft said, " The United States is

very sensitive about interfering in the internal

politics of other countries. " On 3/20/02, he said the

Justice Department was making sure to be " sensitive "

in hunting down terrorists. He said, " The agents and

officers who conducted the interviews did so in a

sensitive manner, showing full respect for the rights

and dignity of the individuals being interviewed. "

 

CHENEY & LOTT URGE MILITARY TO BE SENSITIVE IN

CONDUCTING WAR: #160;In conducting the first war in

Iraq, then-Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney repeatedly

stressed the need for America to fight a " sensitive "

war. On 9/11/90, Cheney told Congress that he " was

very concerned about#8230;the clash of cultures "

brought on by U.S. troops being stationed in Saudi

Arabia, and that the U.S. must " try to be sensitive. "

Sen. Trent Lott (R-MS) concurred, saying, " I would

agree to that. I think [the Saudis] are sensitive, but

we also are sensitive. "

 

CHENEY SAYS PENTAGON MUST BE " SENSITIVE " IN DEVELOPING

WEAPONS: On 2/7/90, Cheney told Congress that the

Pentagon must be " sensitive " in developing weapons. He

said that he understood the need for the Pentagon to

explore civilian uses of weapons-related technology,

saying, " I think we need to be very sensitive to that

as a department. "

 

WOLFOWITZ SAYS MILITARY MUST BE " SENSITIVE " IN WAR ON

TERROR: On 11/9/01, Deputy Defense Secretary Paul

Wolfowitz, a key hawk on military issues, said the

armed forces must be " sensitive " to religious issues

surrounding the War on Terror. He said, " I think we've

made it clear we're going to be sensitive to the fact

that Ramadan is the holiest month on the Muslim

calendar and we will have that in mind. "

Under the Radar

ENERGY #8211; LIGHTS OUT: The Financial Times reports,

" One year after electricity blackouts pitched the

north eastern U.S. and Canada into darkness,

infrastructure companies say there has been barely any

extra investment in the over-stretched transmission

grid. " At the time of the power outage last year,

lawmakers called for up to $100 billion in additional

spending over 10 years " to reduce bottlenecks and

increase grid capacity. " However, that didn't happen:

" ABB and Siemens, two European industrial groups that

supply most transmission and distribution equipment in

the U.S., say they have seen far less new investment

in the past 12 months than was hoped for. " Part of the

problem: " House and Senate Republicans are at odds "

over spending proposals. " Proposed 'reliability'

mandates for utilities that run the nation's

electricity grids aren't controversial. But

Republicans want to keep them packaged with

Bush-backed oil and gas-production incentives, "

controversial measures which has left them stuck in

Congress.

 

ECONOMY #8211; TAX CUTS FOR THE RICH: According to the

New York Times, a report published today by the

Congressional Budget Office shows " fully one-third of

President Bush's tax cuts in the last three years have

gone to people with the top 1 percent of income, who

have earned an average of $1.2 million annually. "

#160;Longtime tax analyst William G. Gale, of the

Brookings Institution, explains the larger

ramifications of this disproportionate tax system:

" It's not just that lower-income people are getting

smaller benefits. It's also that these tax cuts will

eventually have to be paid for with either spending

cuts or tax increases, and those are likely to be less

progressive than the taxes they are paying now.''

 

IRAQ #8211; SWITCHING SIDES: The Bush administration

wants to take the burden of securing Iraq off of the

shoulders of war-weary American troops by giving more

responsibility to the U.S.-trained Iraqi National

Guard. However, these forces may not be allied to the

U.S. cause: " in Amarah several hundred members of the

Iraqi National Guard vowed to switch their allegiance

to the Mahdi Army until U.S. forces leave Najaf, the

Associated Press reported. "

 

POVERTY #8211; BURIED NEWS: The Wall Street Journal

Washington Wire reports critics are crying foul " as

[the] Census Bureau expedites release of government

data on poverty and the uninsured from the usual

late-September announcement to 8/26. They see it as

the administration's attempt to bury bad news, when

Congress and many journalists will be out of town. The

numbers, covering 2003, are expected to show

increases. " (From controversial nominations to

unpopular environmental policies, this White House has

perfected the art of announcing bad news on a

traditionally slow news day, when " fewer people are

reading newspapers or watching television news over

the weekend. " )

 

INTELLIGENCE #8211; IN GOSS'S WORDS: As Congress

argues over the politically charged nomination of Rep.

Porter Goss as the head the CIA, one man thinks he's

not the right man for the job: Porter Goss. Filmmaker

Michael Moore released footage from six months ago in

which the proposed head of the CIA declared he was

unsuitable for the job. He explained, " My language

skills were romance languages and stuff. We're looking

for Arabists today. I don't have the cultural

background probably. And I certainly don't have the

technical skills, as my children remind me every day:

'Dad, you got to get better on your computer.' So, the

things that you need to have, I don't have. "

 

 

FeaturesDON'T MISS

MEDIA: The Doctored Clip Sean Hannity Doesn't Want You

to Know About

 

IRAQ: Center for American Progress column charges

Salem Chalabi's continued involvement in Saddam

tribunal " threatens a mismanaged trial that could

easily do more harm than good.#160;He must go. " #160;

 

TERRORISM: Washington Post editorial warns, " With the

latest blast of confusing statements about terrorist

threats, most of the homeland security officials

involved have slipped into parody. "

DAILY GRILL

" Not a one of [America's wars] was won by being

sensitive. " #8211; Vice President Cheney, mocking Sen.

John Kerry's comments that America must be more

" sensitive " to allies, 8/12/04

 

VERSUS

 

" Because America is powerful, we must be sensitive

about expressing our power and influence. " #8211;

President George Bush, 3/4/01

 

DAILY OUTRAGE

A nonpartisan government agency finds the Bush

administration shifted the tax burden away from the

ultra-rich to the middle class.

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