If there is anyone left here who is concerned for the U.S. Constitution, and critical of the war crime that is Guantanamo, this event may be of interest: "Guantanamo at Twenty-Three"
If I seem a bit "insulting" to National/Traditional (Kendallian/Schmittian/Straussian) Conservatives, and the libertarians in solidarity with them, as someone said recently, with New Right Trumpite politicians in the forefront of defending Guantanamo and torture as the Trumpite New Right, my question is: how can one not be insulting of such vigorous opponents of the U.S. Constitution, and of the disingenuous promoters of that New Right? Should anti-Nazi Germans not have been insulting toward the Nazis?
With the American New Right, as Israeli fascist associated National Conservatives, as guilty of genocide as are their Israeli National Conservative partners, per Nuremberg principles. That's not intended as an insult, but simply as legal analysis! I'm still involved with Guantanamo issues as an attorney, and with Israeli issues as they touch U.S. opponents of genocide, such as with college students, so the Constitutional legal issues I defend, are attacked by fanatical National Conservatives, such as this:
There was a day when my views on Guantanamo represented the mainstream of this email list, with that gradually changing as Charles Koch's money was beginning to "talk" in about 2015 with his contributions seemingly buying into The American (National)Conservative magazine. Followed by switching out the best of the editorial staff, for Claremonters, to include with their fellow-Straussian partners of Hillsdale College, now the "educational arm" of TAC. With that right-wing fanaticism now the "mainstream" here it seems with avid proponents of the most extreme right-wing politicians, such as Jeff Sessions and of course Trump/Vance, with the appearance of Willmoore Kendallian Traditional Conservatives promoting Jeff Sessions as AG when Trump got elected. Here is what Sessions represented:
BLUF: "In November, the Miami Herald revealed that Spath had applied for a job with the Justice Department in 2015 to work as an immigration judge. At the same time, he was presiding over Nashiri’s case, in which Justice Department lawyers were part of the prosecution team seeking the death penalty. Former Attorney General Jeff Sessions has been an outspoken supporter of Guantánamo’s military commissions. In 2017, he called the prison “a very fine place” to put new terror suspects, and he reportedly intervened last year to scuttle a plea deal that would spare 9/11 defendants the death penalty. "According to defense filings, in the years after he applied for an appointment with the Justice Department, Spath touted his “aggressive trial schedule,” while accusing Nashiri’s defense lawyers of creating “constant roadblocks, recalcitrance, and disobeyance of orders.” "Michel Paradis, a Defense Department counsel representing Nashiri, told the three-judge panel that Spath had “angled for an appointment from the Attorney General at the same time the Attorney General and Department of Justice had substantial interest in [Nashiri’s] case,” and that “he traded on the fact that he was the judge in this capital case for his own personal gain.” "Paradis also said that Spath had used one of his rulings favorable to the Justice Department in Nashiri’s case as a writing sample for his application. Spath ultimately got the job and was sworn in as an immigration judge in September."
Full disclosure: Paradis is lead attorney/co-counsel on the Bahlul appellate case I remain on, and I was on the al-Hasawi team prior to retiring from the Army. SecDef Lloyd Austin stepped into Traditional Conservative Jefferson Davis Sessions' shoes and killed the latest plea agreement reached with three of the defendants who were tortured the worst by the CIA/Military, making any pretense that Guantanamo/Military Commissions aren't themselves war crimes, as "denial of fair trial rights," self-evidently false. But Republicans put a lot of pressure on Austin to kill the agreement, such as seen from TAC/QI favorite J .D. Vance above.
Guantanamo at Twenty-Three
January 11, 2025, marked the 23rd anniversary of the opening of the military prison at Guantánamo Bay, which was established in the wake of the 9/11 attacks. When Biden took office, the prison held 40 people. As the days count down to the inauguration of President Elect Trump, the Biden administration has worked to reduce the population of the prison. On January 6th, the U.S. transferred 11 Yemeni detainees to Oman, dropping the prison’s population to 15 men. Among these men are three who the government has approved for transfer, three who have not been approved for transfer but also have not been charged with crimes, seven men currently facing charges, and two who were convicted. As Trump prepares to take office, the fate of the prison and the men who remain there is unclear. Trump previously halted efforts to close the prison, transferring only one prisoner, and even threatened to expand Guantanamo. What will happen to the prison and its detainees as the Biden administration’s first term comes to an end? Will the prison ever close? Join New America's Future Security Program as they welcome Karen Greenberg, Thomas B. Wilner, and Andy Worthington for a discussion about what is next for the prison. Karen Greenberg is Director of the Center on National Security at Fordham Law and a fellow with New America’s Future Security program and a research fellow with ASU’s Future Security Initiative. She is the author and editor of many books, including Subtle Tools: The Dismantling of American Democracy from the War on Terror to Donald Trump and The Least Worst Place: Guantanamo’s First One Hundred Days. Thomas B. Wilner is the co-founder of Close Guantanamo, Of Counsel at Shearman & Sterling LLP, and was counsel of record to the Guantanamo detainees in two Supreme Court cases confirming their right to seek review of their detention in U.S. courts. Andy Worthington is the co-founder of Close Guantanamo and author of The Guantanamo Files. Join the conversation online using #GTMOat23 and following @NewAmericaISP. Participants: Karen Greenberg Editor, Our Nation at Risk Director, Center on National Security at Fordham Law Fellow, New America Future Security program Research Fellow, Future Security Initiative, Arizona State University Thomas B. Wilner Co-Founder, Close Guantanamo Of Counsel, Shearman & Sterling, LLP Andy Worthington, @GuantanamoAndy Co-Founder, Close Guantanamo Author, The Guantanamo Files: The Stories of the 774 Detainees in America's Illegal Prison Moderator: Peter Bergen Vice President, New America Co-Director, Future Security Professor of Practice, Arizona State University
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