Critics of the U.S. detention of terrorists at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, say the facility there is populated by prisoners who were simply in the wrong places at the wrong times in the war on terrorism.
In fact, about one in seven of the Gitmo detainees who have been set free have returned to terrorism, according to Pentagon figures.
One of them is Yousef Mohammed al-Shihri, an al-Qaida operative. He was turned loose in 2007. But recently, he was stopped at the Saudi Arabian border and questioned by guards. Al-Shihri was dressed as a woman at the time. He opened fire and was killed by return fire. As evidence that the Gitmo detainees are not merely victims of circumstance, a search of his car after the shooting uncovered a variety of weapons, including grenades and explosive belts.
Now remember: Al-Shihri was freed from Gitmo on the assumption that he was not a serious threat. How much more dangerous are the remaining detainees -- some of whom President Barack Obama wants to try in civilian courts on U.S. soil, with full constitutional due-process rights?
In another irony of the al-Shihri case, the U.N. Human Rights Council stated recently that "enhanced immigration controls that focus attention on male bombers who may be dressing as females to avoid scrutiny make transgender persons susceptible to increased harassment and suspicion," National Review magazine reported.
Can you believe that? Border guards want to keep potential mass murderers out of a given country, but the U.N. thinks the real issue is harassment of "transgender persons."
Is it any wonder that many Americans refuse to see the Gitmo detainees through rose-colored glasses -- and think the U.N. has warped priorities?
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Guantanimo has become a negative symbol of illegal torture and abuse. Closing Guantanimo,no matter the difficulties,is an important step in moving beyond an embarrasing chapter in US history. We must see ourselves in a good light if we hope for others to view us positively.
Whoa NN. Have you seen the videos and read testimony of those who have visited and investigated Guantanamo? The majority show a Club Med of prisons and very fat, very coddled prisoners. Why ignore the rest of the article here that proclaims irrefutable truths? Hard when one has an agenda, eh?
Why don't Liberal-lefties spend some time investigating the torture chambers of Cuba, the Middle East, China or even right next door, the lovely Mexican prison system? And start speaking out about them for a change.
Libs love to talk about how Gitmo is the United States' version of the old Russian Gulag system. This is such unhinged logic it's pathetic. What side are you people on? Make a choice -- either you are for the US or against it. I'm convinced you're against it.
Walden,unhinged logic is really quite an advantage over the more common logic. Pushing aside biases,filtering out propaganda,seeking out wide rangeing perspectives...can all combine to give one a world viewpoint on major issues.
Team America is only one entry in this pageant where we have been very advantaged. Whether we like it or not,that era is ending. If we don't put on some wide angle lenses,history is going to pass us by...the evidence is there to see.
Can America move beyond the prevalent parochial perspective that has led us to the current economic and political brink? I want to be hopeful,but...
nucanuck -- I'm at a loss for words...
I don't really have time to address your comments the way I would like to, but for starters, America is the greatest country this planet has yet seen. No other country or empire can claim to have never lived under tyrannical rule. People are free to be whatever they want to be in this country, and they are free to do their best, and be their best. No other country can claim these things. I am a strong believer in American Exceptionalism. By that I do not mean that I think Americans are better people than any other peoples, but that our System is better than any other system. This is fundamental to our success in the world. We are not perfect, and we always will have areas for improvement, but there is no better place on this earth to live than in America, despite our current Administration's attempts to undo the very fabric of our System that has made us so great. We have to fight daily to keep things moving in the right direction in this great country.
I'll tell you one sure path to national destruction, and that is to keep borrowing from other countries, especially communist ones. We need to pay off our debts and fund our operations via internal cash flow. We are like drunken sailors with a credit card. Until we clean up, we should not borrow another dime.
I don't have time to keep going right now, but I think you get where I am coming from. Maybe I'm not at a loss for words...
Walden,thank you for your heartfelt response that did not descend into insults toward differing viewpoints. This comment board should take heed.
We agree that debt is bringing/has brought our country to her knees. We may differ on the causes for our plight. I see the debt curve accellerating beginning in the '80s and going absolutely parabolic now,preceding a collapse to be followed by many lean years of debt re-alignment. If there was a philosophical economic change it appears to have occured under Reagan,but both sides participated in the run-up that has brought us to this point.
While I disagree with the bailouts and stimulus,I don't see a difference in Bush's reaction and Obama's reaction to avert a melt down. I also don't claim to know what might have happened had we gone cold turkey. The rapid debt expansion may be allowing us to fall more gently,avoiding a chaotic collapse.
Post recovery our place in the world will be different. How different? Well,it looks like the US$ will not long remain as the world's reserve currency. We can assume that the trillion dollar (direct and indirect) military budget will not be sustained. We can assume that other countries may not continue to extend credit if they see little likelihood of repayment. If these assumptions resemble our future,then I doubt either of us can imagine life in the US going forward.
Creating an ideological wall of hate will multiply the difficulty factor.