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The GOP's tortured logic
The Republicans who now agree with the president that the War Crimes Act is too vague said something very different 10 years ago.
By Mark Benjamin [2006-09-19]

  • Also in 1996...

    Congressional Republicans blocked tougher anti-terrorism legislation introduced by the Clinton administration.

    Republican leaders met with White House Chief of Staff Leon Panetta in response to the president's call for "the very best ideas" for fighting terrorism. Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, emerged from the meeting and said, "These are very controversial provisions that the White House wants. Some they're not going to get." Did he want to tortrure people and ignore the Geneva Conventions? No, adding taggants to explosives was too controversial for the GOP then.

    http://www.cnn.com/US/9607/30/clinton.terrorism/

    Congress passed another anti-terrorism bill that was a watered down version of the administration proposal. Sen. Don Nickles, R-Oklahoma, praised the bill, while complaining "We don't want a police state." This, after the bill "deleted many of the Senate's anti-terrorism provisions because of lawmakers' concerns about increasing federal law enforcement powers."

    http://www.cnn.com/US/9604/18/anti.terror.bill/index.html

    The concerns of Hatch and Nickles and the rest of the GOP were abandoned, of course -- not on 9/11 but eight months earlier when a Republican moved back into the White House.

    -- btdenver
    [Read btdenver's other letters]
    Monday, September 18, 2006 08:06 PM
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