World Information 4

Ruling could free detainees
in US: White House
Associated Press . Washington

The White House said Thursday that dangerous detainees at Guantanamo Bay could end up walking Main Street USA. as a result of last month’s Supreme Court ruling about detainees’ legal rights. Federal appeals courts, however, have indicated they have no intention of letting that happen.
The high court ruling, which gave all detainees the right to petition federal judges for immediate release, has intensified discussions within the Bush administration about what to do with the roughly 270 detainees held at the US naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
‘I’m sure that none of us want Khalid Sheikh Mohammed walking around our neighbourhoods,’ White House press secretary Dana Perino said about al-Qaeda’s former third in command.
The president, George W Bush, strongly disagreed with the Supreme Court decision that the foreigners held under indefinite detention at Guantanamo have the right to seek release in civilian courts.
The 5-4 ruling was the third time the justices had repudiated Bush on his approach to holding the suspects outside the protections of US law.
The legal ramifications of the Supreme Court decision remain fuzzy, but it’s unlikely that a federal appeals court would order a detainee released into the United States even if a judge finds that the government was holding the detainee improperly.
Obama insists no change in Iraq plan
Agence France-Presse . Washington

Democratic White House hopeful Barack Obama insisted Thursday he had not changed his plan to order immediate troop withdrawals from Iraq, despite earlier saying he might refine his policies.
Obama’s attempts to clarify his Iraq policy, before a looming visit to the war zone, drew a triumphant response from the campaign of Republican presumptive nominee John McCain, a staunch supporter of the current war effort.
Obama held two press conferences within hours in North Dakota, in an attempt to dispel reports that he was softening his proposal to get all combat troops home within 16 months, in the light of recent security gains.
‘I have seen no information that contradicts the notion that we can bring our troops out safely at a pace of one to two brigades per month,’ Obama said.
‘This is the same position that I had four months ago, it’s the same position that I had eight months ago. It’s the same position that I had 12 months ago.’
‘My first day in office, I will bring the Joint Chiefs of Staff in, and I will give them a new mission, and that is to end this war.
‘Responsibly, deliberately, but decisively.’
Obama also accused reporters of buying spin from McCain.
‘I think what’s happened is that the McCain campaign primed the pump with the press to suggest that somehow we were changing our policy, when we hadn’t.’
But, in an earlier meeting with reporters, Obama said he may ‘refine’ his policies after consultations with generals on a planned trip to Iraq this month, details of which have not been announced for security reasons.
Obama, who based his primary campaign on vehement opposition to the Iraq war, said he would conduct a ‘thorough assessment’ of his policies after the trip, his first to Iraq for two years.
The McCain camp, in a statement from spokesman Brian Rogers, crowed that Obama had, in fact changed his position, and accepted that the current troop surge effort was a success.
‘We would like to congratulate him for accepting John McCain’s principled stand on this critical national security issue,’ Rogers said.