PPC Homepage

Bill Ritter – War Criminal?

by | 12:56 pm, January 26, 2009 | 6 Comments

Turns out that Colorado Governor Bill Ritter’s recent proposal to bring the Gitmo detainees to Colorado’s SuperMax Federal prison complex (“Could Gitmo Terror Suspects be coming to Colorado?” and “Ritter favors bringing detainees to Supermax”) is not only a bad idea that should be opposed on policy grounds (“Lawmakers urge Ritter not to accept Gitmo prisoners”) but would actually violate international treaties and the Laws of War.

Now, I was a bit rusty on my Laws of War instruction as the story broke, but when I heard about Ritter’s proposal to bring captured enemy combatants to Colorado’s civilian prisons, something didn’t ring quite true – so I decided to do a bit of research.  I didn’t have to dig very far (heck, I’m not even a lawyer) to discover the following: The Geneva Convention (III) Relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War states specifically that combatant prisoners may NOT be held among the general (civilian) prison population.  

The language of the convention is quite clear:  regarding where captured enemy combatants may be held, Article 22 of the conventions states clearly and unequivocally that “they shall not be interned in penitentiaries.”

So, when do the impeachment proceedings and war crimes trials begin?

Category: Colorado, Obama

Comments

  1.   Christopher Williams
      January 26th, 2009 @ 4:45 pm

    I’m assuming that you are reading the same newspapers that I do. How does a story reporting that a television station asked Bill Ritter if he would consider hosting some Guantanamo detainees, and he replied that he would consider it if asked, to a full blown proposal from the Governor?

    You are adding to the paranoid delusions of other lawmakers that passed around petitions like adolscent schoolgirls, and you get no brownie points for veracity…

  2.   travis
      January 26th, 2009 @ 9:00 pm

    Christopher is right. You guys should avoid spreading unfounded rumors based on comments taken out of context.

    Otherwise, you’ll end up sounding like the moonbat left has these past eight years. (“Sixteen Words” ring a bell for you, Christopher?)

    Personally I’m glad you all haven’t jumped on the “Obama flubbed the Oath” bandwagon. If Rehnquist had done that to Bush there’d be no end to the ridicule of Bush for being too stupid to memorize a short pasasge of text, and no matter how many times it would be pointed out that Rehnquist had bloopered instead, Bush and his stupidity would continue to get sneered at. Shows some maturity that PPC hasn’t gone down that road.

  3.   Captain Arapahoe
      January 27th, 2009 @ 11:14 pm

    Responding to the comments -
    First off: in the immortal words of our “big toe” – “Lighten up, Francis.”
    Second: before you go accusing someone of “spreading unfounded rumors based on comments taken out of context” you should read the entire article, including references. I include my sources (and provide a handy link) for a reason. Ritter’s support for bringing the Gitmo detainees to SuperMax is NOT an off-the-cuff comment “taken out of context”, as evidenced by follow-up statements from his office confirming his support for the idea (follow the links, and read, Travis).
    So Gentlemen (and I use the term advisedly) – you challenged my veracity. I provided documentation, sources, and references. Ritter said what he said – and had his statements confirmed by his office. Ritter’s proposal IS a violation of the laws of war (again, as I documented, sourced, and referenced). What is it that you fail to understand?
    CPT A

  4.   travis
      January 28th, 2009 @ 7:09 pm

    Uh, Captain? You might want to get your irony meter re-calibrated.

  5.   Captain Arapahoe
      January 28th, 2009 @ 11:06 pm

    Uh, Travis – I should recalibrate MY irony meter?
    Get thee to a mirror, my feckless commenter…

  6.   Peoples Press Collective » Dem flacks cover for Ritter’s illegal Gitmo/SuperMax proposal
      February 10th, 2009 @ 11:37 am

    [...] both the “common-sense” test and international legal precedent.  As mentioned in my original post, the salient fact is the prohibition on the internment of combatant detainees (both actual [...]

Praise for PPC From Our Lefty "Fan"

  • "Zany-ass bombast-entertainment...Hackneyed weirdo communist pseudo-nostalgia" --Alan Franklin, ProgressNow

Featured Posts




  • When a young girl gets close to the truth about a long-forgotten mystery, a harmless adventure becomes a threat to the future of the independent commercial settlements on Mars.

  • Advertise Here!

    info-at-peoplespresscollective-dot-org

  • Categories

  • Archives

  • Meta




  • Buy a Tea Party Poster!