Close Guantanamo? That's not the Issue. UPDATED
Whether or not to close Guantanamo is not the issue.
Closing the site of the travesty is not an answer. Germany's closing of Bergen-Belsen would only have produced political eye-wash. No change would have been effected. And, yes, I intended the implied connection between Hitler's and U.S. policies.
Closing Guantanamo will not change the fact that prisoners are being held in violation of our Constitutional and Geneva Convention guarantees of the right to confront our accusers. Our government can play word games about whether or not the prisoners are or are not to be afforded rights under the Geneva Conventions. Word games do not change the innate right to human decency.
Even those wrongly detained (after four years of confinement) receive no justice since U.S. courts will not allow a suit that would reveal state secrets.
Our government must act to reclaim any semblance of moral authority. The Guantanamo prisoners must be released or Charged, Tried and found guilty or innocent. The secrets revealed in trials over a human being's freedom are secondary. Additionally, courts have ways of handling state secrets if they are truly pursuing justice.
Hiding behind secrecy concerns is abhorrent.
The only secrecy of concern is the secret that this administration will negate any law to pursue it's predetermined plan.
UPDATE:
Just to be clear. The U.S. government has stated that water-boarding is used as an interrogation technique. Is it torture? Well, I won't suggest you try this at home, so let's just pose a hypothetical situation.
You have your husband/wife/friend tie you to a board. Then have them tilt you so your head is lower than your lungs (that is very important). After they blindfold you, they stretch a cloth above your face. Then they begin pouring water through the cloth over your nose and mouth. Drowning is unlikely, since your lungs are higher than your nose and mouth. But ... the sensation of drowning is so real that broken bones often result from the thrashing of the restrained victim.
Now ... have you had time to fully imagine this? Would you call this torture?
Closing the site of the travesty is not an answer. Germany's closing of Bergen-Belsen would only have produced political eye-wash. No change would have been effected. And, yes, I intended the implied connection between Hitler's and U.S. policies.
Closing Guantanamo will not change the fact that prisoners are being held in violation of our Constitutional and Geneva Convention guarantees of the right to confront our accusers. Our government can play word games about whether or not the prisoners are or are not to be afforded rights under the Geneva Conventions. Word games do not change the innate right to human decency.
Even those wrongly detained (after four years of confinement) receive no justice since U.S. courts will not allow a suit that would reveal state secrets.
Our government must act to reclaim any semblance of moral authority. The Guantanamo prisoners must be released or Charged, Tried and found guilty or innocent. The secrets revealed in trials over a human being's freedom are secondary. Additionally, courts have ways of handling state secrets if they are truly pursuing justice.
Hiding behind secrecy concerns is abhorrent.
The only secrecy of concern is the secret that this administration will negate any law to pursue it's predetermined plan.
UPDATE:
Just to be clear. The U.S. government has stated that water-boarding is used as an interrogation technique. Is it torture? Well, I won't suggest you try this at home, so let's just pose a hypothetical situation.
You have your husband/wife/friend tie you to a board. Then have them tilt you so your head is lower than your lungs (that is very important). After they blindfold you, they stretch a cloth above your face. Then they begin pouring water through the cloth over your nose and mouth. Drowning is unlikely, since your lungs are higher than your nose and mouth. But ... the sensation of drowning is so real that broken bones often result from the thrashing of the restrained victim.Now ... have you had time to fully imagine this? Would you call this torture?
posted by CWhite at 6/19/2006 05:02:00 PM
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