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| Home Front: WoT |
| HRW Counsel to ''fight'' terrorism |
| 2009-07-17 |
| IF you were hiring a lawyer to help pro tect Americans from terrorists, you likely wouldn't choose a left-wing activist who's been a champion of the killers held at Guantanamo Bay. Then again, you're not President Obama. His Justice Department has raised eyebrows by tapping Jennifer Daskal, formerly "senior counterterrorism counsel" at Human Rights Watch, to work as counsel in its National Security Division and to serve on a task force deciding the future of Guantanamo and its detainees. A former public defender, Daskal has no prosecutorial experience -- let alone a background in national security. So how did she land an important job at Justice -- one of only four political appointments at the National Security Division? "Even when selecting political appointees, the administration must place qualifications above political views, especially in an office as important as the National Security Division," says Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas), the top Republican on the House Judiciary Committee. Others note that if Daskal's Human Rights Watch activism counted as lobbying, the hire would be a direct conflict of interest: She's now working for the government on the same policies she was recently paid to shape from the outside. As a lawyer for the advocacy group, Daskal never missed a chance to give Gitmo detainees the benefit of the doubt while assuming the worst about US government intentions. She has called for a "truth commission" to investigate Bush anti-terror policies, and was even unhappy with Team Obama before joining it. In February, Justice asserted the state-secrets privilege to avoid disclosing details of the CIA's interrogation program; Daskal called it "a huge disappointment . . . inconsistent with the commitment to transparency and openness promised by the new administration." Back when five Gitmo terrorists, including 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheik Mohammed, announced their intention to confess, Daskal refused to accept their guilt: "In light of the men's severe mistreatment, the judge should require a full and thorough factual inquiry to determine whether or not these pleas are voluntary." Maybe she didn't hear the outburst from one of the five at the end of his hearing: "I hope the jihad will continue and strike the heart of America with all kinds of weapons of mass destruction." |
| Posted by:Fred |