Posted on 06/29/2005 8:15:06 PM PDT by Russian Sage
Who cares for the detainees? Now, a whole set of people’s representatives drawn from both sides of the political spectrum, the Republicans and the Democrats, have gone to the US Naval Base in Guantanamo Bay to see with their own eyes as to what is the situation there, and to speak to the detainees and find out first-hand, whether there was any truth in what the media and rights activists kept saying. Was it a place fit for human life? Was it a civilised set of jails that are run as per international standards? Yes, this was what they were there for. Seeing all those outcry by some Muslim and Arab journalists about atrocities being committed at the Bay, I wonder whether they should also not be equally concerned about and write on things that are happening in the jails or outside in their own lands? I remember the case of the American sleuths arresting some militant in Italy or so some time ago. He was packed off to Egypt, and not to Guantanamo Bay or any other US detention center for the reason that the type of torture and truth-extraction systems in Egypt was supposed to be a shade stronger than what the interrogation centers in the West have. And, who found this out and exposed it before the public? None other than the Western media. That’s how we learn about such happenings. And we even got to see pictures of tortures that had taken place in Abu Ghraib, in Iraq, or elsewhere, through the pictures that the Western media got and published, by way of exposing such dirty deeds; and we got nothing of it at all from the media of the respective countries. Why? I leave it to you to say. We have to be logical. Something has gone wrong with Guantanamo Bay. Errors can happen. It can happen anywhere. But, we must also note that there’s an effort to rectify the errors there. That’s why everyone is going to the Guantanamo Bay to check what’s happening there; even the American media was taken there in the past. Yet, when the Bush administration said that all the conditions at the Bay were humane, and that the detainees were well-treated, that was not the end of it. Lawmakers still wanted to go and see for themselves the real situation. Some lawmakers had, in the past, called for closing down of the detention center. Some others have called for the setting up of an independent commission to probe complaints of rights violations there. The fact is also that quite a number of people have been released from the detention center in the past, after prolonged investigations or interrogations proved they were innocent of the crimes that they were suspected to have committed. It turned out that these men had landed in custody or were hauled up under strange circumstances. Those who have committed crimes needed to be prosecuted and punishment given; and it is equally important that the innocent must not be made to suffer. Civilized laws dictate that, Guantanamo Bay or elsewhere, all detainees be treated in a fair and civilized manner. This is what the team of American lawmakers wanted to make sure. They witnessed interrogations, went around the cells, and shared the food cooked and served at the detention center for the detainees. While they were generally happy with the way things were, they called for more action to ensure that adequate legal process is in place to handle detainees’ cases. Clearly, there are more issues that need to be addressed. The camp was set up three years ago, and some of those who were taken there then have still not been charge-sheeted. Their cases need to be expedited. The innocent ones should not be made to face trouble. Even “enemy combatants” needed a fair trial before punishment. But, the forceful voices in support of these demands are coming from the Americans themselves. The people’s representatives on both sides of the political divide are united in demanding that there be rights protection for the detainees at the Bay. That is the admirable part about the system.
SEE, dear readers, how things do happen in a democratic and civilized country. When their own men in uniform make a mess of the things in the name of protecting the nation, and invite all kinds of allegations about their conduct in jails, the lawmakers themselves go out to check and rectify the situation. They do not leave it to others to further mess up the situation.
Not me.
"Who cares for the detainees?"
I care!!! I think they should be hung with new ropes.
I couldn't agree more. And it really bugs me how every stupid conjured-up debacle, no matter how flimsy and incosistent, is worthy of a presidential blue-ribbon commission, complete with a 400-page bound report at the end of it.
Saddam was nerve-gassing thousands of people, dissolving them in acid, and torture-murdering them but Bush is the criminal here. Yeah, right!
Who cares for the detainees?
I do. Give them job training as swineherds.
If Bush cured cancer tomorrow, the world will say he was the one who created it in the first place, just so he could "pretend" to cure it.
"Now, you failed the exam and will have to retake the course the next term."
Well, just damn.
This kind of crap supports the adage "take no prisoners".
I am doubtful about claims of great intel being obtained from this crowd, also.
A big dose of sodium pentathol prior to not being taken prisoner would be more appropriate, IMO.
Take no prisoners = end of problem.
59 seconds, LOL
Why not, the world needs sh&% shovelers, too.
LOL - I was debating with myself whether to post this to you! The debate lasted too long. LOL (no I'm not a demonRAT)
I do.
And I'm deeply saddened that we have not provided these terroist's with an 18 hole golf course at Club Gitmo.
I am truly shocked at our behaviour.
Get the UN involved....now!
LVM
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think the point was to show that the U.S. has support, after all.
Who cares for the detainees?
Vermin Durbin.
"If" my grandma had wheels she'd be a Harley.
The terrorists have the RAT party and the ACLU who cares for the detainees. I want to know why we've been hearing about the poor, sweet terrorists and their high-cholesterol diet. I want to knwo why we haven't been hearing about the abuse being dished out by the terrorists themselves.
RATS are attacking the people who defend us, and defending those who attack us.
Did you know the al Qaeda Training Manual instructs those captured to (falsely) claim mistreatment?
Do you think all the fuss about (false) claims of mistreatment will cause the US forces to take more, or fewer captives?
Do you think the captives are treated better in the hands of Egypt, Pakistan, or in the hands of the US?
Did you know the Supreme Court ruled during WWII that captured "illegal combatants" (out of uniform) could be executed, including US citizens?
Did you know the Geneva Convention requires wearing uniforms, to qualify for the rules pertaining to treatment of POWs?
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