april 5, 2006

Navy LCDR Charles Swift

We rarely begin our BuzzFlash "Wings of Justice Award" commendation with a mainstream media quotation, but this time we'll make an exception.

According to the Bloomberg news service, "He was supposed to arrange a plea bargain. Instead, Navy Lieutenant Commander Charles Swift ended up fighting his commander in chief at the U.S. Supreme Court.

"Swift, the military lawyer for Guantanamo Bay inmate Salim Ahmed Hamdan, is asking the high court to block President George W. Bush's plan to use tribunals to try terrorism suspects."

The Supreme Court is now hearing the case.

Swift, among other things, accuses the military of trying to coerce a guilty plea from his client by threatening to take away his legal representation -- that is to say LCDR Swift -- if the Guantanamo inmate didn't plead guilty.

A loyal military man, Swift found that his superiors in the Pentagon had turned a bit too Kafkaesque and decided to follow the path of justice instead of career expediency.

Swift said, "If you start thinking about your career over your duty, it's time to get out.''

Too bad we don't have his kind of integrity and respect for the law and justice on Capitol Hill and in the White House.

Navy Lieutenant Commander Charles Swift, BuzzFlash salutes you as this week's "Wings of Justice Award" honoree.

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Nominated by: A BuzzFlash Reader in Chicago, Illinois

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