(David Scull for The New York Times)

Death knell of a republic....

When I visit the US next week for the first time in more than two years, I'll be entering a country which no longer recognises a Constitutional guarantee of the writ of habeas corpus.

I’ll be entering a country which has legally codified the right to torture.

I’ll be entering a country which four years ago, granted Bush the power, formerly vested only in Congress, to declare war.

In other words, I’ll be entering a dictatorship: “an autocratic form of absolute rule by leadership unrestricted by law, constitutions, or other social and political factors within the state.” (Wikipedia.)

WASHINGTON, Sept. 28 — The Senate approved a measure on Thursday on the interrogations and trials of terrorism suspects, establishing far-reaching rules to deal with what President Bush has called the most dangerous combatants in a different type of war.

The bill would set up rules for the military commissions that will allow the government to proceed with the prosecutions of high-level detainees including Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, considered the mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

It would make illegal several broadly defined abuses of detainees, while leaving it to the president to establish specific permissible interrogation techniques. And it would strip detainees of a habeas corpus right to challenge their detentions in court. [emphasis mine]

The bill is the same as one that the House passed, eliminating the need for a conference between the two chambers. The House is expected to approve the Senate bill Friday, sending it to the president to be signed.

To say this makes me more than a bit nervous, is a huge understatement.

Chris Floyd has a few, more succinct words on the subject here.

And the NYT story is here.