Earth Times reports we just returned six more well-fed, well-rested Guantanamo prisoners back to the 8th century societies they came from. One paragraph from the article stood out:
“About 270 detainees are still being held at Guantanamo. The Defence Department said it was still looking for countries that would take in about 65 prisoners deemed eligible for release. The US has released about 500 prisoners since 2002, but has often struggled to find countries that will accept the detainees and sought guarantees that they will not be tortured."
Europe clamors for us to shut down Guantanamo, but turns the other way, studiously inattentive, whistling absentmindedly, hands in pockets when we address the subject of repatriating the European ones back to the old continent. Men with strong British names like Mohammad and Farook may never play darts on the old sod again. A certain Herr Al-Jihadi, of the old and venerable Hamburg Jihadis, fears he will never again cast his bushy-browed gaze upon the land of Beer and Bratwurst. While refusing to ease the plight of their imprisoned countrymen, the Euros also insist men from delightful Middle Eastern and South Asian countries may not be repatriated for fear they will be tortured. So here we are in a logical cul-de-sac: Can’t keep them in prison, can’t turn them loose. The Euros and the Internationales are good at scolding bad behavior, but come up a little short on solutions.
I don’t know what the alternative is. They sure as hell can’t be turned loose on American soil (of course, that is the conclusion the Bush-haters have steered us into.) I don’t even want them stinking up American jails. Maybe we could turn them over to the men and women in powdered wigs at the Hague. Things have been pretty quiet there since Slobo kicked the bucket. For those who need a reminder, the Clinton administration cast Serbian president Slobodan Milosevic as the demon in the Balkan tragedy-drama. He was perfect for the part: He looked mean, had an evil-sounding name, and had directed the killing of Muslims (just ignore the fact that some of his victims were terrorists.) We dragged him to The Hague, where he commenced to making a shambles of international justice with his long-winded angry tirades. The Euros stood around looking helplessly at one another and flapping their arms futilely in response. Anyway, I think the Hague is the perfect place to wrap this whole debacle up. Wasn’t it Karl Marx who said something about history repeating itself, first as tragedy, secondly as farce?
The only alternative left is to interrogate future captives on the battlefield then shoot them dead after getting what we want out of them. There’s probably some international law against that…
Remember rendition? You know, secret CIA flights (probably in black planes with meat hooks hanging from the ceiling) that carried to their doom poor innocent men who accidentally stumbled onto the battle field with rocket launchers in their hands? Remember talk about how the US had turned the world into our own global Gulag Archipelago? Why aren’t we hearing about that anymore?
Here’s your answer: Old Europe was complicit all along.
It’s a game we play. The US plays good cop, and bad cop, while Europe plays the moral cop, blowing the whistle on the actions we take to protect ourselves and them. It’s all part of the deal: European governments cravenly cooperate and egg us on in private while criticizing us in public. If the Euros and the Internationales want us to adopt humane (according to them) policies, then they need to grow up and take some responsibility for their actions, or inaction, as the case may be. We can argue the legalities of Guantanamo, but let’s get all the cards on the table first. Fritz and Basil still have a few up their sleeves.
Links:
http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/202927,nine-prisoners-released-from-guantanamo.html
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/16/AR2006101601339.html
0 comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.