War on Terror Watch: Obama's Crew Trying, Failing to Halt Court Cases on Surveillance

Another episode in the Obama tale of "Not What We Say But What We Do" in the War on Terror:

On Friday, a US Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the claim of Obama's Justice Department that surveillance without warrants (if you prefer, "domestic spying"), a procedure extended by the Bush Administration, came under the category of "state secrets" and could not be reviewed by the courts.

The case arose when Bush officials accidentally sent classified documents to the lawyers of a charity, the Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation, being investigated by the Treasury Department. The documents covered attorney-client discussions which were monitored by the National Security Agency.

In a second case, on Wednesday Justice Department lawyers vigorously supported Congressional legislation which granted full immunity to US telecommunications companies that participated in the Bush Administration's domestic surveillance programme.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation of San Francisco approached the US District Court to rule that the activity of the telecommunications companies was unconstitutional. Government lawyers responded, "[This] is the law of the land, and as such the Department of Justice defends it in court."

As a Senator of Illinois, Obama said he opposed the immunity clause but supported the bill for warrantless surveillance which included it.

A Truth and Reconciliation Commission for the Bush Administration?

Senator Patrick Leahy (pictured) has "proposed the idea of a truth and reconciliation commission to investigate abuses during the Bush-Cheney Administration -- so they never happen again. These abuses may include the use of torture, warrantless wiretapping, extraordinary rendition, and executive override of laws." He has posted a petition "urging Congress to consider establishing a truth and reconciliation commission to investigate the Bush-Cheney Administration's abuses".

Being objective, we cannot offer advice on the petition but those who are interested in it for research purpose might have a glance in this direction.