Sunday, September 18, 2005
We Hate the Lemon Chicken
If it weren’t so tragic it would be morbidly hilarious: the Guantanamo Bay ‘Enemy combatants’ have gone on hunger strike. Any way you slice it, however, the Republican claim that detainees are being treated well because they are being fed well is now going stale and dripping with irony.
If you remember, it was not long ago that Republicans in congress deflected accusations that Guantanamo detainees were being tortured by parading the cafeteria menu across the floor of the House and Senate. Their thought was that if they could show the world that detainees were being fed lemon chicken and other such dishes -- which some Members of Congress, after visiting the base, reported was actually rather dry -- people would assume that they were being treated with dignity in other ways as well. I, personally, don’t agree with the dubious premise that just because they are being fed well, they aren’t being tortured. Even so, it would seem the Republicans don’t even have that leg to stand on anymore.
Lawyers for the various ‘Enemy Combatants’ being detained say that the prisoners are growing increasingly upset over their treatment. They are demanding to be treated in accordance with the Geneva accords. Apparently after the last incident, a six-member panel of detainees was formed to hear and address grievances, in accordance with the Geneva accords. However, after only one or two meetings and no attempts to address the complaints raised, the authorities disbanded it. Reporters and military officials alike admit that the situation is starting to get out of hand.
In spite of all these issues, military officials claim concern for the detainees’ health. As such, those detainees who are refusing to eat are being forcibly fed through nasal tubes to keep them alive. Let’s see the administration declare that publicly as a rebuttal for the torture allegations.
If you remember, it was not long ago that Republicans in congress deflected accusations that Guantanamo detainees were being tortured by parading the cafeteria menu across the floor of the House and Senate. Their thought was that if they could show the world that detainees were being fed lemon chicken and other such dishes -- which some Members of Congress, after visiting the base, reported was actually rather dry -- people would assume that they were being treated with dignity in other ways as well. I, personally, don’t agree with the dubious premise that just because they are being fed well, they aren’t being tortured. Even so, it would seem the Republicans don’t even have that leg to stand on anymore.
Lawyers for the various ‘Enemy Combatants’ being detained say that the prisoners are growing increasingly upset over their treatment. They are demanding to be treated in accordance with the Geneva accords. Apparently after the last incident, a six-member panel of detainees was formed to hear and address grievances, in accordance with the Geneva accords. However, after only one or two meetings and no attempts to address the complaints raised, the authorities disbanded it. Reporters and military officials alike admit that the situation is starting to get out of hand.
In spite of all these issues, military officials claim concern for the detainees’ health. As such, those detainees who are refusing to eat are being forcibly fed through nasal tubes to keep them alive. Let’s see the administration declare that publicly as a rebuttal for the torture allegations.
