“GUANTANAMO BAY PRISON IS STILL OPEN!”

2 PARAGRAPHS 4 LIBERTY: #309

Guantanamo Bay Prison, which is the biggest blight upon our integrity as a country during my lifetime, is still open. And at this point nobody particularly even talks about it! Shame upon all of us!! What is this facility? It is a prison in Cuba that is under the full control of the United States military that began operations in 2002 in response to the September 1, 2001 crimes against our country by Osama bin Laden and his al-Qaeda supporters. Since that time, according to Wikipedia, it has housed 780 “US Extra-Territorial Detainees,” of whom 731 now have been transferred back to other countries, 9 have died while in our custody and 40 remain there in our custody. One of them includes Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, who is considered to have been the mastermind of the 9/11 attack.

So why is this such a blight upon our integrity as a country? Had we brought them to our shores our Constitution would have required that criminal charges would have to be brought against them in order to keep them in custody. And they would have been entitled to a fair and speedy trial while being represented by an attorney. But, since they are being held in a foreign country, we deem them still “to be on the battlefield” which, we argue, allows them to be held without even charges being brought against them, much less a trial. In addition, indefinite detention, torture, inhumane conditions and unfair trials – which have all taken place there – are all considered to be violations of International Law! There is no question that if Khalid Shaikh Mohammed or any other detainees were involved in any material fashion in the 9/11 attack they should spend the rest of their lives in prison. But any country with integrity would first require that their involvement be proved in a fair trial! So again I say, shame upon all of us for allowing this to happen!

Quote for the week: “Yes, officer, I did see the Stop Sign. I just didn’t see you.”