Political Bloviation

Interesting op-ed in today’s Post:

Israel’s Example - washingtonpost.com
NO ONE would say that Israel is soft on terrorism, which makes it all the more fascinating that a country that essentially lives under siege provides so many legal accommodations to those it detains as unlawful combatants. It’s a stark contrast to the Bush administration’s approach and one the administration may be able to learn from.

That’s essentially the point made by a handful of Israeli law professors and military law experts in a recently filed friend-of-the-court brief in Boumediene v. Bush. The U.S. Supreme Court is scheduled to hear the case this fall to determine whether the administration has lawfully detained Mr. Boumediene as an enemy combatant.<snip>

In Israel, even non-citizens captured outside the country and designated unlawful combatants are entitled to due process in Israeli civilian courts. They are guaranteed judicial review of their detention within 14 days of capture. They are guaranteed the services of a lawyer no later than 34 days after capture. And they are guaranteed a review of their detention by an Israeli district court judge every six months thereafter. If an unlawful combatant is captured in the occupied territories of the West Bank, the case proceeds through Israeli military courts, with similar guarantees of judicial review and legal representation.

We do not live under the kind of existential threat that’s part of daily life in Israel. Yet they somehow manage to offer basic right to detainees of all types. Other than satisfying some twisted authoritarian dream, is there some reason why we can’t?

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