June 15, 2005
Earth To Donald H.
The military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, will be needed for years to come, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld suggested Tuesday. There is no alternative location to hold and interrogate the suspected terrorists held there, he said."I don't know any place where we have infrastructure that's appropriate for that sizable group of people,'' he said during a Pentagon news conference.
Is Donald H. really this fucking stupid (don't answer that)? Uh, Donald H.? It's not the geographical location of the camp that people object to, it's that you're torturing and holding indefinitely, without trial its inhabitants.
The United States government, let alone the U.S. military, does not want to be in the position of holding suspected terrorists any longer than is absolutely necessary. But as long as there remains a need to keep terrorists from striking again, a facility will continue to be needed.
Uh, Donald H.? If that's the goal of mainting the "facility", and considering that the number of terrorist incidents has exploded since you opened the camp, might you want to consider closing the "facility" as a means to achieving your goal?
He said the prisoners include terrorist trainers, bomb makers, extremist recruiters and financiers, bodyguards for Osama bin Laden, and would-be suicide bombers."They're not common car thieves. They're believed to be determined killers,'' he said.
You may "believe" it to be the case -- and if you give some evidence to support your beliefs, a jury may believe it as well. John McCain, at least, understands this point:
The key to this is to move the judicial process forward so that these individuals will be brought to trial for any crime that they are accused of rather than residing in the Guantanamo facility in perpetuity.
This, of course, ignores that the United States does not have jurisdiction to invade another country and abduct its citizens. But it at least acknowledges not only that people have the right to a speedy trial, but also that they would not be placed upon trial unless there's good reason to suspect them of already having committed a crime.
In an interview for the BBC's Newsnight programme, Mr. Rumsfeld said Iraq had passed several milestones, like holding elections and appointing a government.But asked if the security situation had improved, he admitted: "Statistically, no. But clearly it has been getting better as we've gone along," he added.
Uhhhhhh...okay.
Posted by Eddie Tews at June 15, 2005 11:33 AM
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