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IP: "Washington Bends the Rules", by James Bamford
From: David Farber <dfarber () earthlink net>
Date: Tue, 27 Aug 2002 13:49:42 -0400
James Bamford is the author, most recently, of "Body of Secrets: Anatomy of the Ultra-Secret National Security Agency.'' ( a book worth reading. Djf -----Original Message----- From: Steve Bellovin <smb () research att com> Date: Tue, 27 Aug 2002 10:47:27 To: dave () farber net Subject: NY Times OpEd: "Washington Bends the Rules", by James Bamford Someone must have slandered Josef K., for one morning, without having done anything truly wrong, he was arrested." So begins "The Trial," Franz Kafka's story of an ordinary man caught in a legal web where the more he struggles to find out what he did wrong, the more trapped he becomes. "After all," says Kafka's narrator, "K. lived in a state governed by law, there was universal peace, all statutes were in force." With increasing speed, the Justice Department of Attorney General John Ashcroft is starting to resemble the "always vengeful bureaucracy" that crushed Josef K. Recently, in two federal cases, the Justice Department argued that it is within the president's inherent power to indefinitely detain, without any charges, any person, including any United States citizen, whom the president (through the Justice Department) designates an "enemy combatant." Further, the person can be locked away, held incommunicado and denied counsel. Finally, Mr. Ashcroft argues that such a decision is not subject to review by federal or state courts. This situation is beyond even Kafka, who in his parable of punishment and paranoia at least supplied Josef K. with an attorney. ... http://www.nytimes.com/2002/08/27/opinion/27BAMF.html For archives see: http://www.interesting-people.org/archives/interesting-people/
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