Tuesday, September 26, 2006

Senate's Lawyer Infestation Spreads: JAG Lawyers Seek to Dominate "Chain of Command"


First, critics [1] [2] [3] have pointed out that, under U.S. law, an attack against a military target [USS Cole attack October 12, 2000] does not meet the legal definition of terrorism (see: 22 USC § 2656f(d)(2)).

Then, JAG lawyers prevented strikes against prime terror targets such as the Taliban convoy near Kandahar (October 2001).

Now, from former Captain USNR (ret.) and Attorney EagleSpeak (Vietnam, Desert Storm & Balkans service) in his Sept. 19, 2006 The development of the "Combat Defense Lawyer" (excerpts):

As each trooper in the 82nd lines up a shot at a terrorist aiming at him, one set of the 666th CDAB attorneys will file a motion with the Combat Field Judge asserting that the trooper is about to violate the rights of the jihadist at whom he is aiming. The trooper's counsel will point out the imminent danger faced by his client and will assert "self defense" - meanwhile, the jihadist is blazing away at the trooper, ignoring the temporary injunction papers being waved at him by the Combat Marshal.

Other members of the terrorist group are gunning down members of the 666th Brigade as they try to present their business cards and establish an attorney-client relationship. Eventually the terrorists run out of ammunition only to discover that their AK-47s have not come close to being able to damage the American military as will the legal system about to invoked on their behalf by American law. - EagleSpeak commenting on BRENDAN MINITER's Wall Street OpinionJournal September 19th piece, When Miranda Met Osama Will terrorists get lawyers the moment they're captured on the battlefield? Read it all here.

Interesting facts about the numerical proliferation of JAG lawyers in the combat chain of command since daya of the Continental Army are available here Parasitization of the U.S. Military and at sources linked there.

Thursday, September 14, 2006

Lawyers Wield Their Extortion (Threat of Lawsuits), Again

Another Taxpayer-reimbursed Money Pot Created

Worried CIA Officers Buy Legal Insurance
Over the past two decades, tort suits across the country have increased by 13 percent each year, to cite one statistic. The rising tide of litigation includes lawsuits against federal officials. At any given time, there are about 5,000 active suits against federal employees, said John Euler, retired deputy director of the Justice Department’s Civil Division Torts Branch. The Justice Department accepts about 98 percent of the requests to represent individual federal employees each year, said Charles Miller, a Justice Department spokesman. But that leaves 2 percent without Justice Department representation... Fault Lines: Executives face more liability issues as suits against government increase source

Since the late 1990s, the CIA's senior managers have been eligible for reimbursement of half their liability insurance premium. The insurance, costing about $300 a year, would pay as much as $200,000 toward legal expenses and $1 million in civil judgments.

As part of the administration's efforts to protect intelligence officers from liability, Bush last week called for Congress to approve legislation drafted by the White House that would exempt CIA officers and other federal civilian officials from prosecution...Bush also asked Congress to bar federal courts from considering lawsuits by detainees who were in CIA or military custody that allege violations of international treaties and laws governing treatment of detainees.
The proposals are generally opposed in the Senate by Democrats (mostly lawyers) and a group of dissident Republicans (mostly more lawyers). source

The more lawyers in government, the more opportunities for lawsuits are created and funded (by us taxpayers).