No doubt, these have been among the darkest days in the global war on terror.
The president of one of the key powers in the fight against Al Qaeda terrorism has in essence suspended his nation's constitution and rendered its democratic institutions unrecognizable. Its citizens can be detained and held indefinitely without habeas corpus protections. Their electronic communications are now subject to interception without warrants. Suspected Al Qaeda and Taliban members can be denied access to the protections of the Geneva Convention and tried using information coerced by interrogation techniques amounting to torture. Government officials withhold exculpatory evidence, ensuring convictions in high profile terrorism prosecutions. To codify his power grab, the president seeks to match a friendly Supreme Court chief justice with his compliant department of justice. And political opponents are rounded up to guarantee the president never encounters their dissent.
And that's just in the United States. In Pakistan, the situation is even worse...