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Scenes from the Struggle for the Rights of the Guantanamo Detainees

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Scenes from the Struggle for the Rights of the Guantanamo Detainees Tells The FacTs and names The names augusT 2007 Alexander cockburn and Jeffrey St. clair vol. 14, no. 14 The Vices of Hillary Clinton Scenes from the Struggle Secrecy, for the Rights of The Intransigence Guantanamo Detainees and War By Andy Worthington By Alexander Cockburn As the time steadily approaches the tribunals. Abraham criticized the en- when the U.S. Supreme Court will con- tire process as severely flawed, often re- and Jeffrey St. Clair sider whether, after over three years lying on “generic” evidence and designed of stalling and obfuscation on the part solely to rubber-stamp the detainees’ Hillary Clinton’s propensity for overkill of the administration, the detainees at prior designation as “enemy combatants”. earned her and Bill the enmity of people Guantanamo will be allowed “full access Abraham’s statement, filed in a case in capable of inflicting serious damage, as to the U.S. court system” and the right June, is widely credited with encouraging the Whitewater and Cattle Futures scan- to challenge the basis of their detention the Supreme Court to agree to take the dals duly attested. And soon, as they in federal courts, the Associated Press detainees’ case in June, reversing a deci- embarked on the 1992 presidential cam- reports that 411 senior officials from the sion made just two months earlier. Such paign, the same overkill reflex produced a United States and Europe — 25 retired a reversal is very rare. The last one oc- perfect storm of bad publicity that came U.S. diplomats, two retired rear admirals, curred 60 years ago, within an ace of finishing Clinton off al- a retired Marine general, and 383 current In their submission to the Supreme together. or former members of the European and Court, the 383 European politicians — “of In January 2002, America was intro- British parliaments — made their sup- divergent political views”, as the AP put duced to the Gennifer Flowers scan- port for the detainees’ case clear to the it — declared that it was “important that dal, courtesy of the National Enquirer. Supreme Court on Friday , August 24. even when faced with the threat of inter- Flowers was a former Little Rock news- Their opposition to the administra- national terrorism, all states, including caster with whom Governor Clinton tion’s policies stems from a profound the United States, comply with the stan- had an extended love affair for five years dissatisfaction with the tribunal sys- dards set by international humanitarian in the 1980s, as pleasingly chronicled tem — the Combatant Review Status law and human rights law by granting full in Flowers’ entirely credible memoir, Tribunals (CRST) — which were hur- court access”, and added, pointedly, “The Gennifer Flowers: Passion and Betrayal. riedly established by the administration treatment of petitioners currently falls After the Enquirer broke the Flowers after the Supreme Court first ruled, 38 short of these standards”. story while Clinton was campaigning in months ago, that the detainees had the For their part, the 25 retired U.S. dip- New Hampshire, his campaign advisors right to challenge their detention — after lomats pointed out that lower court rul- went into crisis mode, trying to figure they had already spent two and a half ings “supporting the Bush administra- out the best defense. Seasoned tacticians years in a hermetically sealed legal limbo. tion's opposition to full court access” like Betsey Wright and David Ifshin sug- Far from being an adequate response, the were “seized upon by repressive govern- gested that the best course would be to tribunals — in which three-member mili- ments as a license to incarcerate their shrug the story off as unsubstantiated tary panels reviewed the detainees’ status own citizens and others with impunity”, gossip mongering by a supermarket tab- as enemy combatants, but the detainees but the most trenchant criticism came loid. The national press corps was already themselves had no right to legal counsel from Brig. Gen. David M. Brahms, the taking this tack, since the reporters on and were not allowed to see the classified senior legal adviser for the Marine Corps the campaign bus were loath to admit information on which most of the ver- from 1985-88, Rear Adm. John D. Hutson, they had been scooped by the Enquirer dicts were supposedly based — had been the Navy's judge advocate general from — whose story was in fact a piece of criticized from the moment of their in- 1997-2000, and Rear Adm. Donald J. well-researched investigative reporting, ception. They were recently subjected to Guter, the Navy's judge advocate gen- backed up by taped phone calls and mes- fierce condemnation by Lt. Col. Stephen eral from 2000-02, who declared that sages to Gennifer from Bill. Abraham, a member of the team respon- the Tribunals had been “tainted by the (ediTors conTinued on page 2) sible for compiling the “evidence” used in (WorThingTon conTinued on page 4) augusT 2007 Befitting a Midwestern Methodist with a bullying father, repression has always been one of Mrs. Clinton’s most prominent characteristics. It was Hillary who instructed the cam- one thing, but insulting Tammy Wynette? Foster to suicide. After the Clintons ar- paign to put the ruthless private investi- The nation’s number one country star rived in the White House, it became gator Jack Palladino on the case. In her had been watching the program and was Foster’s role to guard their secrets. It was memo to Palladino, she ordered him to furious. She immediately called her pub- one thing to lock documents into a secret “impeach Flowers’ character and veracity licist to vent her outrage, and the pub- room during the campaign. It was quite until she is destroyed beyond all recogni- licist relayed this to the press. For three another to play hide-and-seek with files tion.” Thus primed, Palladino went into days the Clinton campaign tried to talk in the White House, as Mrs. Clinton re- action, seeking to portray Flowers as a to Wynette. She declined all calls until quired Foster to do. Now there weren’t prostitute, a shakedown artist and career finally they got Burt Reynolds to call her, nosy reporters but special prosecutors scamster. and she relented, releasing the news she with subpoenas, looking for documents While Palladino was trying to finish would accept Hillary’s apologies. relevant to Whitewater, to Mrs. Clinton’s off Flowers, Hillary urged Bill to follow The next storm the Clintons had to billing records at Rose Law, her tax re- the high-risk strategy of both of them face was the matter of his avoidance of cords relevant to the commodity trades. going on CBS’s 60 Minutes for an inter- the draft during the Vietnam War. James Foster was tasked with hiding all these view conducted by Steve Kroft. In front Carville, the campaign manager, advo- documents: some in his house, some in of a vast national audience Bill, visibly ill cated forthright admission that this is his office and some — the most damag- at ease, admitted to causing pain to his what he had done. Clinton agreed with ing files — back in his Little Rock house. family while denying that their marriage Carville’s plan to go on ABC’s Nightline There were additional burdens for was merely an arrangement. “This is a with Ted Koppel, bringing with him his Foster. He was trying to douse another marriage,” he asserted. Hillary broke in. famous letter to Colonel Eugene Holmes fire started by Mrs. Clinton. This was her Years of effort in burnishing Bill’s image frankly discussing the conflict between instruction to fire the White House travel as a Son of the South went up in smoke his desire to go and fight in Vietnam and staff, on a trumped-up rationale. There as she declared, “You know, I’m not sit- his concomitant eagerness to “maintain were six separate investigations into ting here like some little woman standing my political viability”. But Hillary was these firings, all of which Foster had to by my man like Tammy Wynette.” adamant. He should not admit that he deal with. Finally, the wretched man had The polls promptly showed Bill’s num- wanted to avoid the draft. On the other to listen to Mrs. Clinton publicly blame bers plummeting south of the Mason- hand, he should not be forced to apolo- the whole “Travelgate” mess on him, even Dixon line. An affair with Flowers was gize for being against the war. The entire as he was concealing documents making file of documents and letters should be it clear she had been the person initiating concealed. Her view prevailed, and the the mess. On top of that, Mrs. Clinton inevitable consequence was the draft- demanded Foster be the principal liaison dodging issue stayed alive as a steady with Congress on her health reform plan. stream of compromising documents For the last month of his life, she refused EDITORS was leaked to the press over the next five to communicate with him, even though Alexander Cockburn months. their offices were thirty feet apart. Jeffrey St. Clair The desire for secrecy is one of Mrs. Health reform was Mrs. Clinton’s as- ASSISTANT EDITOR Clinton’s enduring and damaging traits, signment in her husband’s first term. The Alevtina Rea which is why these campaign imbroglios debacle is well known. In early 1993, 64 are of consequence. Clinton dug himself per cent of all Americans favored a sys- BUSINESS into many a pit, but his greatest skill was tem of national health care. By the time Becky Grant in talking his way out of them in a man- Mrs.
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