In 2009 the Justice Department announced that 9/11 plotter Khalid Shaikh Mohammed would be tried in New York City, setting off a firestorm of protests. Besides the cost and safety concerns, at issue are whether terrorists should be tried in criminal court or whether national security requires the use of military commissions. Likewise, issues like the closing of Guantanamo, the reading of Miranda rights, and enhanced interrogation all center on the same question: How should the U.S. treat captured alleged terrorists? In a war with no foreseeable end, whose actors are neither criminals nor soldiers; can we keep America safe and still bring terrorists to justice.
The Panel

For The Motion:

Michael Hayden
Marc Thiessen

Against The Motion:

David Frakt
Stephen Jones

Moderator:

John Donvan is a correspondent for ABC News Nightline. He has served as ABC White House Correspondent, along with postings in Moscow, London, Jerusalem and Amman.

EVENT DETAILS:

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2010

Reception:5:45 – 6:30PM
Debate:6:45 – 8:30PM

NYU Skirball Center
566 LaGuardia Place
at Washington Square South
New York, NY 10012

Tickets:$40

Click here for ticket details

Published by the Associated Press, August 24, 2010:

CAPE ELIZABETH, Maine — Former President George W. Bush and his wife, Laura, are helping to honor the 65 servicemen from Maine who have died overseas since 2001.

The former first couple made a surprise appearance Sunday at a lobster bake following an annual run in honor of the fallen.

About 150 people participated in the 40-mile “Run for the Fallen” from Ogunquit to Portland, each running different distances.

Organizers said more than 400 people gathered afterward at a lobster bake at Fort Williams Park in Cape Elizabeth.

There, the Bushes paid an unannounced visit and gave thanks to and posed for photographs with families whose loved ones have died overseas.

Article posted here

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

From NBC:

The Interview Will Air Monday, November 8, 2010 as a Special Primetime “Matt Lauer Reports”

Bush Will Also Join Lauer Live on “Today” Wednesday, November 10

NEW YORK – August 2, 2010 – - NBC News’ Matt Lauer will sit down with President George W. Bush in his first one-on-one television interview since leaving the Oval Office. The extensive interview will air in primetime, Monday, November 8, as a special “Matt Lauer Reports.” President Bush will then join Lauer live on “Today,” Wednesday, November 10.

Since leaving office, President Bush has granted no one-on-one television interviews about his presidency. President Bush will talk to Lauer about the details of his upcoming book, Decision Points, to be released by Crown Publishers on November 9, and he will discuss the defining decisions he has made in his personal and political life.

Jim Bell is the executive producer of “Today” (Mon.-Fri., 7-11 a.m. ET).

- – -

Read the stories from The Huffington Post, USA Today’s The Oval Blog and The Hill’s Briefing Room Blog

Published for Washington Post Blog by Garance Franke-Ruta, June 2, 2010:

America’s 43rd president has joined Facebook.

Former president George W. Bush’s Facebook page was set up around two weeks ago but made public Wednesday, rapidly climbing to more than 27,000 who “Liked” it by mid-afternoon.

The first Facebook post was written in the third person, suggesting the page is being maintained by someone other than the president, as is common with Facebook pages for public figures:

“Since leaving office, President Bush has remained active. He has visited 20 states and 8 countries; given over 65 speeches; launched the George W. Bush Presidential Center; participated in 4 policy conferences through The Bush Institute; finished the first draft of his memoir, “Decision Points”; and partnered with President Clinton to establish the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund. More on his activities in future posts…”

A spokesman for the former president confirmed to CBS that the site is real.

Bush has kept a relatively low public profile since leaving the White House, and his move into social media space is sure to be watched closely as he carves out an online identity.

A fresh Twitter identity for the former president was also launched Wednesday, though it has not yet been verified by the company, its procedure for confirming the identity of public figures on the service. “Stay tuned for updates!” @George_WBush wrote Wednesday afternoon in an inaugural post. ABC News reported that it is being maintained by the George W. Bush Presidential Center, but not Bush personally.

Many political figures on Twitter have their feeds maintained by staff. President Obama is on Twitter but uses the site sparingly and mainly for formal announcements and speech excerpts. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and former Alaska governor Sarah Palin, the 2008 Republican nominees for the White House, can be very personal in their use of Twitter and Facebook, however, and use the services as outlets for pointed political commentary and event notifications for supporters.

There are a large number of fake George W. Bushes on Twitter; the new @George_WBush address is designed for those who “Support George Bush.”

An e-mail to Bush’s spokesman was not immediately returned.

Read the article here

(AP) – 7 hours ago

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Former President George W. Bush says if he had it to do over, he would still waterboard the self-professed mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks.

Waterboarding is a simulated drowning technique that the Obama administration considers torture. Bush acknowledged Wednesday that the U.S. used the harsh interrogation technique on Khalid Sheik Mohammed and said he would “do it again to save lives.”

Bush made the comment while speaking to the Economic Club of Grand Rapids, Mich.

Mohammed was captured in Pakistan in 2003 and is the most senior al-Qaida operative in U.S. custody.

In his speech, Bush defended the decision to go to war with Iraq in 2003. He said ousting Saddam Hussein “was the right thing to do and the world is a better place without him.”

Read the article here

By Mark McKinnon for The Daily Beast on May 20th, 2010:

Obama’s team continues to blame America’s problems on his predecessor. But as Tuesday’s vote made clear, voters are holding 44 accountable.

An economy in recession. An ever-deepening deficit. An increase in terrorist attacks. And an angry, divided electorate. If only Bush had not won that third term. So says Barack Obama.

Much like the schoolyard taunt,” I’m rubber, you’re glue,” President Barack Obama, the actual current occupant of the Oval Office, continues to deflect criticism of his administration’s failures by persistently pointing the finger of blame back at his predecessor. Even on day 485.

From the staggering loss of jobs on Main Street, to the nation’s loss of authority abroad, and even to Scott Brown’s clarion victory in Mass., the clearest rebuke of his health care takeover, Obama continues to bemoan all that he inherited. And it’s only going to get worse.

Jumping aboard an angry bandwagon of blame will not help Obama. It’s his wagon that voters are now running from.

In the run-up to the November 2010 elections, 44 is once again campaigning against 43. Obama’s positive future-oriented message about hope and bipartisanship from the presidential campaign was ditched pretty early on.

The playbook going forward is clear: look back, blame Bush, and blame the partisanship divide on the minority party. It’s sad to see that polls—not principles—are the driving force behind Obama’s message.

While the majority of Democrats in America blame Bush and the majority of Republicans blame Obama for the economic mess of the last two years, there isstrong bipartisan agreement that voters trust their own judgment more than the president’s.

Read the full post here

As published for The Daily Beast on April 28th, 2010:

By Mark McKinnon

Obama’s predecessor would have passed immigration reform if not for 9/11. He was correct to shift focus then—and Obama shouldn’t let the Arizona debacle force him to push for a new law during an election year.

In my 25 years in politics, I’ve never seen an issue as explosive or divisive as immigration reform.

The politics are not conventional; they make for strange bedfellows. This is an issue where Barack Obama and George W. Bush and Jeb Bush are in agreement calling for compassion and pathways to citizenship, while ultraliberal MSNBC host Ed Schultz and right-wing former congressman and Arizona Senate candidate J.D. Hayworth are in agreement about militarizing the border.

About a decade ago, discussion about immigration reform was focused on making U.S law friendlier, or at the very least, reasonable for Mexican immigrants. And the message was carried by unlikely champions such as George W. Bush, who as governor of Texas saw up close the strong work ethic, deep patriotism, strong faith, and enormous contribution Mexican immigrants make to our country. It was that kind of compassionate conservatism that drew independents and Democrats like me to support Gov. Bush.

Read the full article here

FORMER PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH’S MEMOIR, DECISION POINTS, TO BE PUBLISHED BY CROWN ON NOVEMBER 9, 2010 — Publisher Unveils Book Jacket —

New York, NY (April 26, 2010) — Decision Points, by George W. Bush, will be published on November 9, 2010, by Crown Publishers. This groundbreaking new brand of memoir will be centered on the fourteen most critical and historic decisions in the life and public service of the 43rd President of the United States.

The book will be released simultaneously in the U.S. and Canada in hardcover, e-book, and audio formats. The announcement was made today by Tina Constable, Vice President, Publisher, Crown Publishers, who also unveiled the book jacket, which is available at www.randomhouse.com/crown.

Since leaving the Oval Office, President Bush has given virtually no interviews or public speeches about his presidency. Instead, he has spent almost every day writing Decision Points, a strikingly personal and candid account revealing how and why he made the defining decisions in his consequential presidency and personal life.

In gripping, never-before-heard detail, President Bush brings readers inside the Texas Governor’s Mansion on the night of the hotly contested 2000 election; aboard Air Force One on 9/11 in the gripping hours after America’s most devastating attack since Pearl Harbor; inside the Situation Room in the moments before launching the war in Iraq; and behind the Oval Office desk for his historic and controversial decisions on the financial crisis, Hurricane Katrina, Afghanistan, Iran, and other issues that have shaped the first decade of the 21st century.

The former President offers intimate, unprecedented details about his decision to quit drinking, his discovery of faith, and his relationships with his family. He writes honestly and directly about his flaws and mistakes, as well as his historic achievements in reforming education, providing life-saving treatments for HIV/AIDS and malaria for millions of people in Africa, safeguarding the country from another terrorist attack, and other areas.

Decision Points will carry a suggested retail price of $35. A cloth-bound, signed, and numbered limited edition of 1,000 copies, priced at $350, is also planned.

At publication, the former President will embark on a national book tour, details of which will be announced in the coming months.

Crown Publishers is an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., whose parent company is Bertelsmann AG.

#  #  #