Comments | urbanepleb: About bloody time

urbanepleb

About bloody time

Jan 22, 2009 12:43

Guantanamo Closed

I get the feeling that there are some out there who are very mad about this and think that this was necessary for American security. But security at what cost? Meh. What do I know?

Comments 5

bobbyfiend January 22 2009, 22:07:34 UTC

Me, I have fundamental and deep philosophical/moral differences with the Bush administration's management of national security policy, and my issues with it are symbolized strongly by the ongoing events at Guantánamo (i.e., who is incarcerated, why, for how long, under what conditions, etc.). I think a lot of critics of this policy find that prison to be a salient symbol. However, closing it is problematic for me, because it *is* so symbolic ( ... )

urbanepleb January 22 2009, 23:51:18 UTC

I don't know most of the particulars... I'm assuming this is why Obama is saying it will be closed in a year and he has a bunch of people looking at cases and determining what should be done with each prisoner.

Do you have to find somewhere for everyone in Guantanamo to go? I mean, what if... they're innocent?! I know, shocking. But since most haven't had a trial in any way shape or form and since you're innocent until you're proven guilty then I think most of them should go home unless you can try them. Since they are mostly internationals, this seems to be an international problem not an American problem.

So what are the real issues?

bobbyfiend January 23 2009, 01:03:52 UTC

This is one of those problems, I think, that can't be unmade nearly as easily as it was made. Some of those prisoners are undoubtedly innocent of any specific crime, but they're often still associated with movements that may be radical in themselves, or may have become more radical in the past few years. The prisoners have also been incarcerated unjustly for a long time, and that might reasonably make them seek out a nice, anti-American group to join, as soon as they get out of the joint. Six years of unjust imprisonment for a crime I didn't commit might make me angry at the nation that sponsored it, for sure. The U.S. military is a little leery of sending them home, potentially to eventually join roadside-bomb squads in Afghanistan. As my old supervisor might say, we have probably created some Rottweilers from Labradors ( ... )

urbanepleb January 23 2009, 16:55:58 UTC

You've left out the possibility of international assistance. These people never should have been held this way in the first place. There are international codes and processes for stuff like this and even a UN tribunal set up for the kinds of crimes that they may or not have committed. I believe Switzerland has already offered to help by taking some of the prisoners and helping to expedite the legal proceedings ( ... )

Thread 5