Obama's National Security policy - Don't count Cheney out

Last Thursday, President Obama and former Vice President Cheney delivered another chapter of their National Security duel. This video does a good job of demonstrating their opposing views.

There are numerous issues that should be known when one considers this dilemma:

• In his effort to promote transparency, and over the objections of five CIA directors, including Leon Panetta, who he had appointed, Obama released highly classified memos describing the limits of our interrogation methods but he refuses to release the memos that will show that these interrogations prevented terror attacks. He claim that he had to release the memos in compliances with a court order, yet he defied a court order to release photos from investigations of detainees and correctly so. 
• On his 3rd day in Office, Obama signed an executive order to freeze the prosecution of terror detainees by military commissions a procedure that had been established by the Bush administration. This week, Obama reinstated the military commissions with a few cosmetic modifications. Yet, in his Thursday speech, Obama claimed that this was a mess left him by President Bush. He fails to realize that President Bush left him a country that was on the offensive against terror organizations – a policy that has kept this country safe from their attacks for almost 8 years since 9/11.

The notion that we should extend constitutional rights to detained terrorists is completely misguided for several reasons:

• The Geneva Conventions do not apply to all prisoners of war. To qualify for full protection under the Geneva Conventions, combatants must wear uniforms, carry arms openly and adhere to the laws of war. Terrorists, of course, fail these tests!
  
• Bringing terrorist to justice in our Federal court system is impractical as well. In most cases, confessions and other evidence against them were obtained without granting Miranda rights, so the court will have to suppress such evidence. 
  

Lastly, we have the issue of known terror operatives that are detained without trial. On this, Obama promises not to release individuals that want to harm America. Well then, if that’s true, all we’re discussing is a change of zip code from Guantanamo to some prison in the US? What will this achieve?