Comments on: Another Gitmo Prosecutor Quits

By: Mr. Anonymous

Mr. Anonymous — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 06:52:51 +0000

Damn I didn’t know lawyers had consciences! ESPECIALLY prosecutors. Even though they’re quitters the experience will be good for them if they become prosecutors outside the military. (It will make the lying and omissions of facts they’ll be doing not seem quite as bad)

By: Cynical In CA

Cynical In CA — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 15:34:17 +0000

I see I have offended a fan of John Philip Sousa. My apologies.

By: Alien

Alien — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 18:13:04 +0000

I second the cheers for Lt. Col. Darrel Vandeveld. Unfortunately, the more people of honor such as him that resign like this, the more likely the remaining JAGs will be complicit with this setup. Though I am not sure the higher-ups in the military will mind much that they will only be left with such individuals. They are applying selective pressure to get rid of people like Lt. Col. Vandeveld, and if this keeps resulting in such resignations, it won’t be long before Bush can truly proclaim “Mission Accomplished”.

By: dsmallwood

dsmallwood — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 15:34:07 +0000

i think Radley has done an excellent job of covering the dishonors done by the Executive branch. i think this is a great example of the intrinsic honor of our military.

Nando is right, this is a career-ender. Every staff officer is moving towards General. this will pretty much end that path for this guy. the impact to his pay, respect, and retirement will be significant.

cheers for Lt. Col. Vandeveld
perpetual disdain for the commando in chief

By: SJE

SJE — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 15:23:06 +0000

Good for the JAGs. Now, if only we can see similarly high ethical standards from the civilian prosecutors…..

By: Cynical In CA

Cynical In CA — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 15:22:55 +0000

Military justice is to justice as military music is to music.

By: Ginger Dan

Ginger Dan — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 15:21:56 +0000

Good for Lt. Col. Vandeveld to lay out his reasons for resigning. It’s good to see that he laid out a few specifics about how insane this whole “Enemy Combatant” legal status is. No doubt he will face repercussions, he’ll probably end up representing soldiers who didn’t peel potatos fast enough.

I wonder what the chances are that this story makes it’s way into the campaign narrative? Since both of the candidates claim to they’ll close Guantanamo, it would interesting to hear what they’ll do with the people detained there and what, if anything, they would do regarding the status of these detainees. My guess is this whole story stays under the radar as the Congress, Fed and Treasury keep thinking up new ways to devalue the dollar.

By: Mike Leatherwood

Mike Leatherwood — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 15:13:39 +0000

“Fair trial” and “military” have never co-existed in the same equation. Even for a servicemember, the deck is stacked against you. I can’t imagine the railroading thats going on in Gitmo.
At least Hollywood did get one thing right:

Col. Jessep: You want answers?
Kaffee: I think I’m entitled.
Col. Jessep: *You want answers?*
Kaffee: *I want the truth!*
Col. Jessep: *You can’t handle the truth!*

We just can’t handle the truth…..

By: Chance

Chance — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 15:07:14 +0000

Clearly, they want the terrorists to win.

By: Mattocracy

Mattocracy — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 14:59:54 +0000

I guess it is somewhat comforting that there are people who refuse to take part in this circus. To me, this is a sign that as flawed as things are, there are people who are consious enough to resist evil even when ordered to do otherwise. Something will have to change for the better, or at least I hope so.

By: Nando

Nando — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 14:59:44 +0000

#3 | Highway | October 9th, 2008 at 10:22 am

So if these guys who are in charge of this stuff like the Col. can’t change things, who can? Who’s driving the bus on this stuff? Let’s have some names, let’s blow some whistles. Let people know who these guys are, and the public can apply some pressure (hah!).

I’d be willing to bet dollars to donuts that this all comes from Cheney, through Gates, down to a few Generals at the Pentagon.

Colonels are high ranking, yes, but they can still be demoted quite easily. As opposed to a General officer whereby it takes an act of Congress to demote/fire them. It takes real courage for a Col. and a Lt. Col. to resign like they did; it’s a resume-generating situation (i.e. it ends their career).

By: andyinsdca

andyinsdca — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 14:52:52 +0000

We’ll give em a fair trial then a fair hangin!

By: Highway

Highway — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 14:22:40 +0000

So if these guys who are in charge of this stuff like the Col. can’t change things, who can? Who’s driving the bus on this stuff? Let’s have some names, let’s blow some whistles. Let people know who these guys are, and the public can apply some pressure (hah!).

By: Mike Healy

Mike Healy — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 14:15:37 +0000

Color me unsurprised.

By: The_Chef

The_Chef — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 14:14:36 +0000

I’m SHOCKED!

SHOCKED I tell you…

…that this is nothing but a kangaroo court.