Jan 22, 2009

Yessss!!!

Hooray for Civil Liberties!!!

5 comments:

Putz said...

i guess i am really a peace nick , do ya know, i really am for closing down guantanimo bay in a year,,i don't want to see prisoner's of war suffer, just as much as i don't want to see american's die ...i was never a flower child in the 50's but i think i am one now, don't laugh no surf sarah ...i might not look too bad with a peace band around y head singing where have all the flowers gone, a long time ago

David L said...

This is one that really leaves me as a fence-sitter. I personally think that closing the base is not the best choice. On the other hand, Gitmo needs to be changed. I'm wildly opposed to some of the "techniques" that have been used, and I'm a strong proponent of the rights of the people imprisoned there. But where do they go?

It is very true that they have been captured in war and, as a result, are right where they legally _could_ be (note that I said "could," not "should"), but I also believe that holding them without prospect of trial or even charging them isn't correct.

I was speaking with a coworker on this subject, and he pointed out that he has no problem with water boarding or holding them without charging them. He even went so far as to say that he isn't opposed to torture if torture pulls that one bit of information that will save lives.

I soundly disagree with that. Once you cross that line into torture or some of the other actions that have happened at Gitmo, where do you redraw the line? Can you redraw it? He responded that it doesn't matter since they are bad guys. But what about when we become the bad guys?

So... mixed feelings. Certainly the people there have rights. They need to be charged for the crimes they are being held for and they should have rights to the law. Certainly they should have basic human rights that we grant and claim for any human. Closing the base won't solve that fundamental problem.

Unknown said...

I actually am glad he's doing it in a year. (He's just signed the executive order to get the ball rolling.) I know they're workign hard to figure out all the ambiguities and the best strategy as to where to put all the people currently in guantanamo and what to do with them, judicially.

Gotta appreciate that it's kind of a complicated thing, this constitutional-free zone Bush has created... and complicated to dismantle properly, too. :)

Donnell Allan said...

I'm right there with you! (What a surprise.)

What an amazing couple of days these have been. And to think that there is more yet to come!

Fred said...

We spent a lot of time on this one in class. It was a lively discussion to say the least.

I do worry about where the detainees go, but am glad to see it gone.