Wednesday, May 17, 2006
On the List?
Yesterday, four years after GITMO opened its gates, the Department of Defense released the names of the prisoners being held there. Keep in mind that the DoD never actually contested the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) petitions that the AP filed, they merely refused to release the information. Finally, though, The DoD released 558 names of prisoners who had been or are currently detained at Guantanamo Bay. Almost one third of these people (201) had never been released before. Yet many of the known, big-name terrorists are not on the list.
The absence of many terrorists who are known captives of the US from this GITMO list has prompted many to ask "so where are they being held?," but this is the wrong question. The right question is this: So then, who are we holding in this detention facility?
This administration has tried to appease the public by telling them two things about GITMO: (1) that these are terrorists who don't deserve our sympathy, and (2) We are treating them well. But are either of these claims true?
GITMO holds "enemy combatants" without benefit of charge, trial or lawyer. Furthermore, the term "enemy combatant" is undefined and Bush and Condi and Rummy refuse to define it. So we are holding a classification of possibly suspected terrorists, but we don't know how to classify the group and now it seems that the actual suspected likely terrorists we were holding there, AREN'T THERE. So who is there? Are we holding innocent American citizens who placed one unlucky phone call caught illegally by the NSA? Are we holding American political dissidents that this administration just decided to call 'suspects' or "enemy combatants? SO MUCH FOR statement 1.
As far as treating them well goes, the static GOP talking points look more like bald-faced lies. The Red Cross has said that GITMO interrogation techniques are tantamount to torture. The RED CROSS! This is not some partisan game, as Limbaugh would have you believe. This is not a battle in the left-right war. This is the American government committing acts of torture.
The Political game only enters it when Limbaugh and others attempt to mollify the American public by reading us gourmet GITMO menus. If you feed people well and then torture them, YOU ARE STILL TORTURING THEM. Not to mention, the people I know who have visited GITMO have said the food was rather dry and not good. Also, look at the leaked picture I have included in this post. Does that look like America is treating these people well? So much for statement #2.
Who are these people we are torturing? The primary terrorists aren't there. Are these just unlucky shmucks who were in the wrong place at the wrong time? Are they just distant family members of informants? America needs to get a grip. I understand that terrorism is a crisis, but adding human rights abuses is not the way to solve the terrorist threat.
