Has even broader power to execute

George W. Bush doesn’t look like an executioner. Those furrows on his brow. Those puzzled eyes. The endearing way his gentle voice mispronounces words.

But the record shows that in his six years as governor of Texas, Bush oversaw 150 executions of inmates on death row. I have heard him mention some of those executions with relish. So, I was alarmed to learn that on Nov. 13 he signed an executive order that will broaden his scope for signing death warrants.

The order permits secret military tribunals to bring to trial any foreigner, in this country or abroad, that George W. Bush suspects of being a terrorist.

In these tribunals, the rights of the accused are not protected as they are under the American judicial system. Guilt does not have to be proved beyond a reasonable doubt. Even if one-third of the jury votes to acquit, the other two-thirds can convict the accused and sentence him to death.

There is no appeal from conviction; and since the proceedings are secret, the judge and jury are not accountable to the American public or to the world. Since Bush means to use this power against foreigners, why should we care?

We care because the Declaration of Independence says that all human beings are born with the rights to life and liberty. We care because the Fourteenth Amendment forbids the state to take away these rights without “due process.” Only insofar as we uphold these rights for all people can we claim to be a democratic country.

Let us yell and scream until this order is rescinded; for at the shameful moment that one of these kangaroo courts pronounces a death sentence, we will show the world that the United States has become exactly what the terrorists say we are.

Oak Harbor

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