Former White House Lawyer Tells Senate that “Indefinite Detention” Without Trial Is Occurring In Afghanistan and Iraq, As Well As Guantanamo

Washington’s Blog
Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Richard Klingler, a lawyer in the Office of White House Counsel under former president George W. Bush, told senators today:

The “debate on indefinite detention often wrongly focuses on Guantanamo Bay,” arguing the practice is “considerably more widespread.”

It is a practice Obama “will continue to pursue,” in Afghanistan, Iraq, and at Guantanamo, and he noted they have already followed in the Bush administration’s footsteps by defending it repeatedly in court, added Klingler.

The “wartime framework underlying [these tactics] have settled well within the mainstream of the American tradition,” he said.

Given that Richard Clarke and another top terrorism expert say that indefinite detention without trial will dramatically increase terrorism, and given that there is no conceivable security rationale for holding prisoners indefinitely without trial, it is disturbing that this has become “mainstream”.

God help us.

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