Wednesday, June 29, 2005

This is a letter from a former P.O.W. held by the North Vietnamese.

The Guantanamo Bay prisoners are possibly the best treated prisoners of war in the history of humanity.

posted by Ben @ 3:18 PM   6 comments

6 Comments:

At 6:07 PM, Anonymous said...

They are also there on life sentences without so much as a trial.

 
At 7:34 AM, Ben said...

Who said life? They are POWs who are not uniformed soldiers. They do get a military tribunal, which is a trial. If they hadn't been caught trying to kill Americans or particpating in acts of terrorism, then they could go. Why, in the middle of a war, would any country release the enemy? They stopped doing it in the Civil War when Confederate soldiers that had been imprisoned were let go and then cuaght again killing Union soldiers in battle. Apparantely you didn't realize this is a war and we want to win, not give ourselves every chance of losing. War is not a game, so stop treating it like one.

 
At 3:03 PM, Anonymous said...

How is this a war we want to win? It's more like "1984," where the real and perceived threats are mixed and we are in constant "need" of war-like tactics.
Assuming everyone in Guantanimo is a terrorist (that's a big assumption), they cannot surrender their cause like an opposing nation or the Confederate States of America. Therefore, they can be held in perpetuity.

 
At 4:14 PM, Ben said...

This is nothing like 1984. Ridiculous comparisons, like Guanatanamo=Holocaust, are in now way constructive and only serve to move the debate from the real issues to who should apologize. If you have something more constructive to say than "It's 1984!" please do so.

I want to see a free and democratic Iraq rise from the ashes of Baathism with stability ensured by a econimically growing populace and an army and civil police well-trained to handle problems, and foreign terrorists no longer streaming in to the country from Syria and elsewhere. When that happens, and when Osama is put to rest, then those prisoners will be let go. Some will go beforehand, like the Kuwaiti guy who was freed in January by a military tribunal. Unlike, say Douglas Woods, the Australian held by terrorists in Iraq, this guy went home healthier than when he arrived, and completely unharmed. Nor did we force him to watch us cut the heads off other prisoners, as Woods was forced to do.

 
At 7:01 PM, Anonymous said...

I'm not saying that Guanatanamo=Holocaust. I'm also not saying that their condition is poor. I am simply suggesting that the US will not be letting go of more than a few token prisoners.

They're definitely terrorists, right? That's why they're in prison. They can't stop being terrorists by US standards. Disclaiming their terrorist past would not suffice to any reasonable standard.

Remember this post. Come back each year on July 1. See if the prisoners are freed.

 
At 8:37 AM, Ben said...

Since a good number of the ones they've released before were then caught trying to kill Americans, I cetainly understand the desire to not let any go unless you are sure they aren't going to turn around and try to kill your countrymen. It's a difficult situation, but it's a war, and the restraint we are showing goes far beyond wehat any other country ever has done in such a situation. Somehow being the most concientious country at war that the world has ever seen is not good enough for people. Yes, we should hold ourselves to a higher standard. Thing is, we're meeting that higher standard, but opponents of the war will never admit that.

 

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