The U.S. do it better? Now...

Strange coincidence: this morning on the train, I was reading David Cole’s very interesting article in the New York Review of Books comparing the U.S. and British responses to terrorism. In a nicely headlined essay “The Brits do it better” the professor of law at Georgetown University (Washington) and co-author (with Jules Lebel) of the acclaimed book Less Safe Less Free highlighted London’s restraint, the British understanding that the fight against terrorism belonged to the realm of crime rather than the field of war. He also predicted that Gordon Brown’s attempt to extend the length of time that suspects may be held before being charged with a crime would fail in the face of firm opposition from human rights groups and top lawyers and magistrates.

The next hours just provided the contradiction to this otherwise finely argued article…The Brits, or at least some of them, thought otherwise, and chose to be - or appear - tougher. On Wednesday the House of Commons narrowly approved the extension of the detention period from 28 to 42 days. And on Thursday the U.S. just did it better: the U.S. Supreme Court, in a legal setback for the Bush administration, stated that foreign suspects held in Guantanamo Bay have the right to challenge their detention in US civilian courts.

Transatlantic winds do not always blow in conventional directions