February 18, 2008

Clinton: Big News

A big headline news item on Sunday? Hillary Clinton is coming out against trying the 9/11 suspects in the offshore (Guantanamo) venue created by the Military Commissions Act (MCA) of 2006. For some reason it isn't a big story when Barak Obama says the same thing. Both Clinton and Obama voted against the MCA.

The difference? Besides the media falling all over itself to help make the Clinton campaign newsworthy, Clinton has a plan. If elected president, she's going to "direct the Justice Department to evaluate the evidence amassed against these prisoners and make a determination", according to Lee Feinstein the Clinton's national security director. Whoa! Ask the Justice Department for legal advice? Now that's big news.

The Big News I'm waiting to hear is whether Clinton or Obama would nominate John Edwards to be the head of the Justice Department. Then, maybe the Downing Street Memo, evidence of Bush fixing the intelligence to meet his intent to wage a war of aggression in Iraq, among other things.

Update on Downing Street Memo Aside:

This, according to DemocracyNow!

“Dossier” Author: Britain Was “Wrong” on Iraq

The British government has released an early version of the so-called intelligence “dossier” that made the case for attacking Iraq. The document contains no mention of the central claim often made by then British Prime Minister Tony Blair that Saddam Hussein could launch chemical or biological weapons within forty minutes. British Foreign Secretary David Miliband said the early draft wasn’t used as a basis for the final document. He also criticized a judicial decision to enforce the release after a Freedom of Information Act request. As the draft was released, its author, former Blair aide John Williams, said those in Blair’s cabinet who had resigned in protest of the war were “right.” He added: “Those of us who carried on working for the government were wrong.”


Sources:

McClatchy News Bureau, Clinton would seek to try 9/11 plotters in established courts, February 17, 2008.

3 comments:

Unknown said...

Whoa, is Hillary trying to recapture the leftwing vote with this news?

libhom said...

I'm glad that Ms. Clinton, at least rhetorically, is following Obama's lead on this issue. One of the best things about this contested primary is that it is pulling both candidates away from the right in some areas.

Given all the past betrayals of the Clintons, I don't trust this too much, though.

GDAEman said...

Libhom I"m with you. DemocracyNow had a good segment Monday 2/18 about the benefits of an extended contest between Clinton and Obama. They also got deep into the issue of the Superdelegates potentially deciding the outcome, a topic on which I've touched upon a little.