Wednesday, May 24, 2006

No rant in sight...just a link to an interesting interview

This is an interesting interview with one of the attorneys for several Kuwaitis held illegally at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. It's part of a series of interviews. I haven't read the rest.

It's easy to believe the constant refrain of 'these are bad people, dangerous people...' until you actually look at how many haven't even been charged. Many have been released and sent back to their countries where they have been acquitted of any wrongdoing.

9 comments:

Miranda said...
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Miranda said...

If you can't be bad and dangerous without being charged, it's a wonder so many claim that the president is.

Shawn said...

Hey, I'm all for sending the president back to Kuwait. I would cheer with joy when he's found innocent of having terrorist ties.

I'm not saying he's bad - just that he's a weak, innefectual leader. That might be dangerous, but I'm not saying that.

I will say that putting the Constitution through the shredder may just be a tad dangerous for those who like things like liberty. For the rest of the country, it should be just fine.

143 said...

You two need to rent a room and be done with it already... ;)

Laura said...

Miranda... you can be bad and dangerous and not be charged. But you cannot be HELD in custody without being charged. I don't see Bush in the custody of US Marshalls, so I really don't see the connection there.

As for Gitmo - I love how our administration tries to decry human rights abuses by other countries (selected ones too - nevermind Saudi Arabia or Israel - they're our buddies) while simultaneously violating the human rights of so many.

exMI said...

Last time I looked most of them aren't being charged becaseu they haven't been "arrested"
they were captured in a war and technically it is against the Geneva convention to charge prisoners of war as criminals. IF we actaully did what is allowed in the Geneva Accords pretty much any of the Al Queda detainees could have been executed after a quick summary Court Martial.

Laura said...

exmi: True... but The Geneva Conventions also state that prisoners of war have the right to contact their families through letters and telegraphs (Section, Article 71).

They also ensure the rights of POWs to legal counsel and the right to bring grievances to the government holding them.

Our administration seems to want to invoke parts of the conventions that are convenient for them, and denounce the others as "quaint"

Shawn said...

Mostly, they don't seem to actually be Al Queda members at all.

I believe that it's not right to wrongly imprison a group of people because one of them could be a terrorist and it's better to be safe than sorry.

But, assuming that the thought is that it's better to grab 10 people to catch one terrorist and then find that nine were just random, innocent, brown people, then the right thing to do would be to compensate these people for the suffering we've caused them.

A real man would also acknowledge when mistakes are made. It's true in real life and it's true in politics. If you do something that causes harm to others - even if done with the best intentions - you need to admit it and take responsibility for it.

And, the right thing to do - as long as we're not ashamed of the sham we're making of our legal system in the name of fighting 'terror' - is to determine whether these people are terrorists or not and do it openly.

This argument that everything the Bush administration does is so tip top secret that even thinking about is too dangerous is perhaps the largest crock of shite I've ever heard.

'Trust me' from a man who betrayed our trust to go to war is hardly worthy of being believed.

I would trust Bush with the lives of men and women in uniform about as much as I would trust Clinton with my girlfriend. And as crappy as it is to snake on my girlfriend, sending people to die for a lie is far, far worse.

bidibis said...

I think Audrey would have prefered me, because im younger, european (why bother flying as far as mineapolis!)i am the founder of a new nation. The craddle of the nation is northwestern greece and its called eordaikon or eor for those who can't pronounce it.

French women rule the world and so am i.

Since you are a Tautou fan you may want to visit her official site