And it seems like today, we have an apology from Cully Stimson, the Defense Department's Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Detainee Affairs. He says,
"Regrettably, my comments left the impression that I question the integrity of those engaged in the zealous defense of detainees in Guantanamo. I do not.This is great! But I can't help but notice that nowhere in his apology is there anything about the corporate CEOs taking their business away from the powerful law firms whose associates and partners represent Gitmo detainees pro bono.
I believe firmly that a foundational principle of our legal system is that the system works best when both sides are represented by competent legal counsel. I support pro bono work, as I said in the interview. I was a criminal defense attorney in two of my three tours in the Navy Judge Advocate General's Corps. I zealously represented unpopular clients -- people charged with crimes that did not make them, or their attorneys, popular in the military."
So while it's nice that he supports pro bono work and has done some defense work when he was a Navy JAG, this apology subtly leaves out his call for corporate clients to investigate (and presumably drop) the law firms who are also representing people held in Gitmo.
I think that's called a non-apology, apology, depending on what your definition of is and apologize, is.
2 comments:
He was for what he said before he was against it.
I think Richard Cohen had it just about right when he called Stimson the "Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Indefensible"
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/22/AR2007012201087.html
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