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Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Plan to close Gitmo gets less

It's been quite a month for the Democratic Party leadership so far. First we find out that the charade of military commission trials is going to continue, and now we won't close our prison camp in Cuba. For those of us who voted for change, it's pretty disappointing. I'm starting to worry about the Supreme Court nominations.

Comments (17)

A couple of thoughts on this very dispiriting subject:

1. Wasn't it obvious from the very inception of our government's plan to treat these alleged criminals as soldiers, that the problem of how to "dispose" of them in the end could never be solved? No solution -- whether it's release, life imprisonment or execution -- will ever satisfy the legitimate needs for minimal justice and public safety.

2. The same corrupt political system that produced the last government also produced the current one, including a Congress full of blowhards, bought and paid for, who think that their obligations to their constituents are satisfied by a NIMBY posture on the further confinement of these individuals.

So we have a handful of people who can't be tried in our regular courts, since their convictions, if obtained, would not stand up; who can't safely be released or returned to some third country; and who won't be accepted for imprisonment within the United States. What's left? A space shuttle mission?

These are not criminals, they are enemy combatants. They do not belong in prisons in the U.S. where they can radicalize (even further) the muslim populations there.

At least we agree on one thing: The current President is a corrupt, Chicago maching politician.

Lifetime confinement at Gitmo (or execution) is fine by me.

Gitmo detainees was a good rallying point for the dems during Bush's reign. Now that the ball is in their court reality has smacked them in the face. Just what do you do with these guys? Not even their own countrymen want them now.

At least we agree on one thing

I won't be tarred with your bigoted, hate-infected brush, but thanks anyway.

You know me? By just a few lines I've written you can tell I'm a bigot? Wow, you must have some powerful abilities at judging character.

I don't hate anyone. However, given the fact these detainees are violent, radical enemies of our country, bent on destroying our way of life, I'd gladly volunteer for the firing party that put every last one of them down.

I'd advise you to speak to my cousin about it, seeing how he did a tour in Afghanistan (and knew more on the subject than both of us.) Unfortunately, he's in Section 60 at Arlington.

given the fact these detainees are violent, radical enemies of our country, bent on destroying our way of life, I'd gladly volunteer for the firing party that put every last one of them down.

It's your acceptance of these assertions as "fact" that make you prejudiced. Some of the detainees may well be no more guilty of these alleged crimes than you are. Are you ready to be shot?

They aren't in this country, they don't deserve the protections of the American legal system.

You seem pretty sure of "facts" presented by leftists that don't give a hoot in hell about the security of our country.

I'm damned more likely to believe the DOD's assessment of their risk to National Security than the ACLU/New York Times.

Are you ready star in a video getting your
throat cut by Muslims chanting "Allah Ahkbar"?

Yes, we voted for change... Obama pushed to close Gitmo. But the Senate doesn't want any part of it.

Can the Dems get someone with a spine to replace Harry Reid?

IMO Obama gets a complete fail on foreign policy and civil rights. Moreover, Obama's pandering to the financial and healthcare industry has been so shockingly disgusting that I find myself questioning whether we might actually have been better off with McCain. He would have closed Gitmo, at least.

After 21 years of party line democrat votes I have decided that I will *NEVER* vote for a democrat again.

HMLA267,
Are you ready to star in a video where your family is incinerated by murderous amerikan GIs?

"They aren't in this country, they don't deserve the protections of the American legal system."

Subsititute "American" for "Wahabbi" and you are a terrorist. What's the difference?

That, is the nature of war. The innocent are always caught in the middle.

And, if you can't tell the difference between Islamic Terrorists, and fine men and women risking their lives in service to our country, I'm not going to bother trying explain it to you.

What's the difference?

God's on our side, Yuan, didn't you know that?

HMLK: dozens of Gitmo detainees have been released -- after years in prison under harsh conditions -- because it turns out they didn't actually do anything wrong. Oops, so sorry. How can you be so sure all who remain are violent, radical terrorists? What, after screwing up so badly at first, now the government's getting it 100% right?

"I'd advise you to speak to my cousin about it, seeing how he did a tour in Afghanistan (and knew more on the subject than both of us.) Unfortunately, he's in Section 60 at Arlington."

Ahh the old I or a family member served/died and therefore I have absolute moral authority on this issue....

Shouting "national security!" as a way to shut down debate is pretty weak. Kind of like Al Sharpton screaming racism or Gloria Allred screaming sexism...

The fact is we don't know how many of these people are really guilty and dangerous and how many are not. I am unwilling to buy into the "trust us" mantra by the govt on this issue. I want some ind review where we give them an opp to make the govt prove the case.

I mean if they really are all supremely dangerous there should be no issue there right?

Otherwise we set a dangerous precedent for giving the Prez practically unlimited power to delcare someone an enemy combatant & send them to godforsakistan.

Dont get me wrong; many of these guys are lunatics who wont be appeased by policy changes on Israel or Iran etc. Im not one othese people who believes we can be singing Kumbaya w/Osama if we just "better understand each other."

Nope, no moral authority here, just an understanding of the cost.

There is some confusion as to whether its Hate My LIARS Act or Hate My LIARS-Kissing Act ... if you get your dyslex relaxed, get back to us on that, wouldn't you?

"... no moral authority here" -- Ya' got that wrong, bumpkin, there IS moral authority here. That's how you can tell you're lost. Get back in your bubble and pop outta here.

See, look: The essence is the Legend of Nine-Eleven Op made up the al-Qaeda part and the bit about fanatical religious hijacking terrorizers, (nevermind for a second making up the part about gravity explodes steel-and-concrete buildings).
See here: GlobalResearch.CA/index.php?context=va&aid=1291

So then, look: Then there had to be made up some terrorizers, since, like mermaids, no such mythicals could truly be found. There weren't any corpi to habeas, so some of your tax dollars were offered as bounty to anyone or any gang who kidnapped an Arab soul alive and brought them to Bush LIARS, (your) cash on the barrelhead, no questions asked. And then your tax dollars (again) built some see-through cages in Cuba and brought photographers to picture the terrorizers in the zoo.

And you bought it. I'm sorry your cousin died protecting your right to have nothing between your ears, an obvious injustice ... or void of justice where no moral exists, authoritative or otherwise.

- -
Guantanamo: A Prison Built On Lies, by Andy Worthington, May 20, 2009

Andy Worthington is a journalist and historian, based in London. He is the author of The Guantánamo Files, the first book to tell the stories of all the detainees in America's illegal prison. Andy's BLOG.

The irony ... is apparently lost on the government, which has also maintained a resolute silence in response to a handful of habeas corpus cases (in which the prisoners are seeking to have their cases dismissed by the courts, as mandated by the Supreme Court last June) that have resulted in judges pouring scorn on the government's supposed evidence.

As I have explained at length in my book The Guantánamo Files, and in numerous articles over the last two years, these hearings were monstrously unjust, as they relied on classified evidence that was not disclosed to the prisoners, and also prevented them from having legal representation. In addition, as Lt. Col. Stephen Abraham, a veteran of US intelligence, has explained, based on his involvement in the tribunals in 2004 and 2005, the body responsible for compiling the information to be used as evidence had little or no access to the databases of the relevant intelligence agencies, and, as a result, relied largely on "generic" information that did not specifically relate to the prisoners, and, in most cases, on "information obtained during interrogations of other detainees," which, as Judge Kessler's recent ruling confirms, were often made by prisoners who were tortured, coerced, bribed or suffering from mental health issues.

[Hey, your kinda peeps, HateMan.]

... therefore, it is difficult to see how much of the "evidence" against the prisoners can be anything other than a tissue of lies, extracted using the same techniques of torture, coercion, bribery, and the exploitation of mental illness ....

Tune into Hate-Talk radio, fill up your LIARS tank.

"That, is the nature of war."

Incinerating families is the nature of war???

You need help.

Sorry Ten...It's "Helicopter Marine Light Attack (squadron number) 267"

However, your rant was amusing as ever...




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