#1: Court martial proceedings over Abu Ghraib. The front page of the Washington Post reports that Maj. Gen. Miller is refusing to answer questions about whether he ordered the use of dogs on prisoners of war in Abu Ghraib. I agree that taking the 5th amendment is the right of every citizen, even in military court. But in this case it causes me to think that it is very important for military prosecutors to get to the bottom of "who ordered what" in both Iraq and the Guantanamo prison. Miller is the one who supposedly "Gitmo-ized" Abu Ghraib.

     A number of other questions come to mind as the soldiers who handled the dogs attempt to defend themselves in military court. Are dogs being used to intimidate POWs in Guantanamo now? Why do we still have 500 POWs in Guantanamo from Afghanistan when the "war" in Afghanistan is over and the country has held elections? According to the Geneva Conventions, these POWs should never have been removed to such a distance from their countries of origin, and they should have been repatriated by now.

     Remember that Attorney General Alberto Gonzales (when he was Counsel to the President) is the one who wrote the memo restricting the definition of torture so that, er, um, torture could be used. There's no other way to say it. The memo justifies rather torturous methods. The Washington Post, the nation's real newspaper (not the NY Times), has posted all 50 pages of the memo.

        Alito was an attorney with the Reagan administration, and he wrote a lot of memos presenting positions that the Reaganists wanted to hear. Now he says he doesn't agree with them all. That's good. But has he been asked about his own definition of torture under the Geneva Conventions?

#2: Guantanamo war crimes tribunal begins trying Omar Khadr, who was 15 years old when he threw a grenade that killed a US medic. According to Reuters, the judge ordered the prosecutor to use the defendant's last name with the title "Mister", rather than calling him by his first name. Does this remind you of how African Americans were once treated in this country? There seems to be a respect issue.

     The grenade that Mr. Khadr threw was allegedly thrown during a pitched battle between US soldiers and their enemies. Since when is it a war crime to toss a grenade in the middle of a battle?

       How about trying someone who was a teenager in a war crimes court? Some think this violates international law. But violations of international law by the Bushies aren't something the public is paying close attention to.

       How about trying someone who is the leader of one of the most powerful nations of the world in a war crimes court?

      The Dutch minister of defense and the new German Chancellor have both called for the US to close the Guantanamo prison as soon as possible.

        Meantime, reports are that the US is building a more permanent prison in Guantanamo. Oops, looks like the Bushies are going to keep the place open. And Amnesty International released some new transcripts detailing allegations of abusive treatment in Guantanamo.