Talk:Bush backtracks over legal status of alleged "Dirty Bomber" Jose Padilla

All (almost all?) U.S. prosecutions under terrorisim legislation have hit been targeted at the wrong people. Maybe this should be mentioned? Its not all Bush's fault if its a more fundamental & subtle flaw in the handling of supposed terrorist risks.
 * That'd be hard to prove, mainly because there isn't really enough complete statistics to prove any of the above. So I'd say leave it out, for accuracy's sake.  --MrMiscellanious (talk) (contribs) 22:18, 23 November 2005 (UTC)
 * It would need to be cited, but the statistics were done at some point. It was just a matter of looking at the laws people were charge under.  However, I think this was a like a year ago, so I have no idea where it was, and there might have some legitimate charge in the meantime. Nyarlathotep 00:52, 24 November 2005 (UTC)

I think the title is quite misleading or the article is severely inadequate. It actually never says that Bush changed his mind or that anyone in his administration did. Not charging someone with a crime is not the same as saying they are innocent. I think it is wrong to assume that Bush is "Backtracking" just because Padilla wasn't charged with every crime of which he was accused. So either fix the title, or include a quote which demonstrates the title's validity.

65.27.81.16, what is misleading? Padilla was first classified as an enemy combatant by US President Bush after Attorney General John Ashcroft announced that a plot to detonate a radioactive dirty bomb had been foiled and charged Padilla as the acting agency of the plot. Then, recently, President Bush ordered Padilla to be transfered to the custody of the Justice Department, where prosecution proceeded with charges of a criminal nature instead. A quote is not necessary, and both of these events are described in the article text if you care to re-read it for them. Backtracking in regard to the classification of Padilla has occurred, and though I had no input on the creation of the title of this article, it is supported and is justified on that basis; Bush's position that Padilla was an enemy combatant led him to first declare Padilla that rather than not and leave him with classification as a suspect has been replaced with his new position that Padilla is a suspect rather than an enemy combatant, he is currently charged with but not convicted of the conspiracy charges in the indictment, if found guilty he will become a criminal. --Opalus 03:48, 25 November 2005 (UTC)

Padilla's legal status has changed - albeit temporarily. As the article states, his status, for the purpose of this trial, is that of an "ordinary" criminal defendent. Whether Bush possesses a mind or the capacity to change it, in the words of a fellow editor "cannot be verified". Doldrums 06:45, 25 November 2005 (UTC)