The hits keep on coming. Obama's campaign slogan "Change" has been ridiculed mercilessly across the political spectrum since he arrived in the White House promising a policy departure from the Bush Administration. Instead, he's meekly accepted the Bush/Cheney playbook that was in place for him.
Pick an issue civil libertarians are concerned about and Obama has disappointed: Indefinite detention, assassination (annoyingly referred to as "targeted killing"), government immunity, government secrecy, reproductive choice, marriage equality, the list goes on.
This week will feature the first Military Commissions trial during Obama's term. It could not be any more bewildering and depressing. Omar Khadr was 15 years when captured in Afghanistan and has spent 8 years in custody in Guantanamo. Khadr allegedly threw a grenade that killed a Delta Force soldier during a fire fight. He has endured being gravely wounded, threatened with rape, tortured and imprisoned indefinitely.
Whether Khadr is guilty or not is now beside the point. Evidence that Khadr actually is responsible for the killing is questionable at best. His treatment over the last eight years is as much on trial as he is.
Sadly, Military Commissions will only serve to further illustrate the emptiness of Obama's promises and the well worn American myth of "equal justice for all." Meanwhile, the more important question of accountability for the willful killing of children and civilians by the United States on a global battlefield that labels any hint of resistance as an act of terrorism will continue to go unanswered.
Susan Ito of the ACLU has posted an excellent analysis on the case today at the ACLU Blog of Rights.