Great Justices Installed by Bush
As the Alito confirmation hearings begin, it is worth considering some of the judicial consquences of George W. Bush's various campaigns.
When the US overthrew the Taliban and installed the Northern Alliance in Afghanistan, the Bush administration implied that everything had changed.
What few observers seem to have noticed is that Hamid Karzai immediately appointed as Afghanistan's chief justice, Fazal Hadi Shinwari, whose philosophy of life was little different from that of the Taliban!
One can only imagine that Bush, who kept thousands of troops in the country and oversaw the evolution of the Afghanistan government, had no objections to the man's judicial philosophy.
Among Shinwari's rulings:
Amputation of hands and stoning to death will continue to be the punishment for thieves and adulterers in post-Taliban Afghanistan, country’s new Chief Justice Fazal Hadi Shinwari was reported today as saying.
Afghan Chief Justice Bans Cable TV.
Afghan chief justice wants co-ed schools to be shut.
Fatwa for "Blasphemy" Journalists: The supreme court proposes the death penalty for two journalists who criticised Islamic practice.
Was all this to make his own nominees to the Supreme Court, who merely want to install a king-president over Americans, uphold the privileges of rich white males, and work against women's rights and one-person, one-vote rights for racial minorities, good in comparison?
posted by Juan Cole @ 1/10/2006 12:34:00 AM
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8 Comments:
Juan Cole is a bright guy and a keen obsever, but he makes many mistakes. The objective of Bush's judical appointments is not to establish Royality in the Executive; it is set up a dictatorship. The Bush regime is not monarchist; Cole should see that easily. It is fascist, a different thing entirely. --Joe
What share of Muslim countries relies principally on religious (Sharia) judges? What share (aside from Turkey) has judges with no religious test or requirement? And what share has parallel or overlapping jurisdiction of religious and nonreligious judges?
For example, do Pakistan or Egypt appoint any Christian or other non-Muslim judges? If a woman challenges a Sharia-based estate or child custody settlement in a civil court, can it over-rule the previous decision? Does a non-Muslim defendant stand a chance in a before a religious judge if the accuser or plaintiff is a Muslim?
Does Iraq's Sistani endorse a court system based on the Sharia? Would he concur with the Afghan judges' rulings against co-ed schools or foreign TV?
As far as US foreign policy was concerned,the Taliban could have gone on and done what it pleased for centuries. However, after 9/11 the Bush team needed a visible, "stompable" revenge target. Al Qaeda was more like a foul smelling mist than a bricks and mortar target. But, unfortunately for it, the Taliban had the foul smell plus bricks and mortar.
Remember all those TV shots of smart bombs demolishing Taliban pickups? Bush was trying to convey the impression that every soul in those pickups was a clone of Mohammed Atta.
The Taliban was such an easy stomp. It must have given the Bush circle the courage and self delusion it needed to move on to the real trophy, Iraq. What happened to post Taliban Afghanistan was someone else's problem.
Yes, it is a well known fact that "democratic" Afganistan is actually under Islamic law with its regular punishment set: amputation, stoning, hanging, etc.
Well, that's news for Sunday, January 13, 2002. Current info on Aghanistan is kept in in this news blog. Here is a recent comment on this.
What happens to Karzai?
Karzai's diplomacy is nothing short of stunning. From one side, he wants to talk to Taliban, from the other side - to Israel. No, this will hardly do him any good.
1. Karzai wishes Sharon long life
Afghan President Hamid Karzai sent get-well wishes to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, adding that his country was ready to initiate diplomatic ties with Israel for the first time in history.
"May God give him (Sharon) a longer life," Karzai told the Associated Press, adding that "If a Palestinian state is recognized, we will recognize Israel, we will have relations with Israel. We will have trade with Israel."
2. DANIEL COONEY. Karzai Invites Contact With Taliban Head
In regards to non-muslim judges in Pakistan: Currently Mr. Justice Rana Bhagwandas (Hindu) is a Supreme Court judge. I believe he was the Chief Justice for a short while (perhaps as an interim Chief Justice).
A. R. Cornelius (Catholic) was a Chief Justice of the Supreme Court for about eight years.
Alito will worm his way in and the legacy of the Bush Supreme Court appointments will live on for decades after history shows Bush to be the most corrupt and incompetent president in U.S. history.
correction.
Recently, some neocon senator questioned Alito on whether 9/11 was a crime or act of war - as if it is still late 2001. His point was that since US is at war (GWOT), WW2 era precedents on German saboteurs apply.
Hence all the consequences: since it is war, they don't want "unlawful combatants" to have any access to civil criminal system , etc. In fact, this also explains why mythical 9/11 - Iraq link is so important: it provides the analogy with Pearl Harbor.
However, after certain thinking, legally, the question of what the judge thinks on 9/11 cannot make any sense. There was plenty of time to formalize this situation, and, in fact, it was already done in the Patriot Act! As for WW2, unlike GWOT, it was declared formally as a war between US and the Axis powers.
Quite remarkably, Alito was uncomfortable answering these questions. Nobody cared to say anything like this at the hearings!
Now they are back to abortion, student memories and other unitelligent design issues.
Why should it be surprising that no senator has mentioned the absence of a declaration of war in the attacks on Afghanistan and Iraq? The U.S. has not declared war in any of the engagement since WWII, most of which were started by Democrats. Why would Democrats want to highlight their own abandonment of Congressional responsibility?
As for the pursuit of Sharia law in Afghanistan, why should that surprise anyone? A recent poll sponsored by CAIR (a Saudi-wahhabist front group) reported that 82% of muslims in the Detroit area--the largest Arab immigrant population in the U.S.--endorsed that Sharia law should govern in Muslim lands. Expressing surprise at the desire for Sharia law in Muslim countries demonstrates either (1) an ignorance of the true nature of Islam and the desires of muslims; or (2) a desire to conceal those facts from non-Muslims who might take quite a different approach to Islam and the muslims if they knew about it.
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