We here at USDemoCrazy love controversy! It can spice up a sports game, show interesting sides of celebrities and politicians, and liven up any social gathering. (”No, Mom, I have no idea how the spaghetti sauce got up there!”)
But there’s the famous and the infamous, and although some controversies entertain us, others are just really unfortunate.
Like the controversies surrounding Guantanamo Bay that have left a dark stain on the U.S.’s human rights record (remember the torturing going on in 2006?).
We thought all of this was going to change on January 21, 2010, exactly one year after President Obama said he would shut down Guantanamo Bay, located in Cuba, still the home of 196 detainees from around the globe.
Today, despite trying to shut down Guantanamo for a year, officials stated that almost 50 detainees are “too dangerous” to send back to home nations.
The BBC reports that
The other nearly 50 detainees are considered too dangerous to release, but cannot be tried because the evidence against them is too flimsy or was extracted from them by coercion, so would not hold up in court.
However, many are hoping that Guantanamo will shut down anyway, and if evidence is flimsy, than the detainees should be free to go.
The Huffington Post, itself always quite controversial, states
Detainees against whom there is no credible evidence should be repatriated back to their home countries or resettled elsewhere where they won’t be tortured. Detainees against whom there is evidence of terrorist activity should be tried in federal courts. The American criminal justice system is more than capable of trying terrorism suspects while protecting both sensitive security evidence and fundamental rights.
Which is precisely what the international community wants from us, too. The United States is struggling with what to do with the prisoners, many of whom would be unsafe in their own nations but should not be tried criminally in the United States.
Thanks to ibiblio.org! Profile of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed
Christopher Boucek shows some of the U.S.’s problems,
There’s a great deal of displeasure about putting people like Khalid Sheikh Mohammed—the accused mastermind of the 9/11 attacks—on trial in New York City.
However, in the midst of bleak news about Guantanamo, it’s possible for it to still do some good. Sound impossible?
Not at all! Guantanamo is lending a helping hand to Haiti, which has a death toll of approximately 200,000 so far from the earthquake ten days ago, and about 2 million people left homeless.
Some experts predict a “mass movement” from Haiti, to areas with more infrastructure to support refugees. Guantanamo is offering beds to anyone who needs it, although I doubt it will be a, *ahem,* comfortable stay.
Guantanamo Bay proves its value as a strategic hub for the movement of supplies and personnel to the affected areas in Haiti,
stated a U.S. military official.
Something is better than nothing, and we’re glad to have some good finally come from Guantanamo!
This rant may be off topic, but bears mentioning and ranting!
There are lots of issues these days, one issue that we must all consider is the fair treatment of Terrorists who are trying to kill me and my family an freinds without our provocation. I am not talking about Muslems, not about the Arab peoples, nor any other human being who hasEARNED THE RIGHT TO BE TREATED AS SUCH.
I am talking about the sub-slime who have been brain-washed, and are brain washing others, convincing them to kill inocent men, women and children. You know who I mean.
Now comes the terrible fate of the Hatian people. People and contries from all over the world are coming to the aid of these unfortunate human beings, without regard for political ties or leanings. I have not heard about any terrorist group that has done the same. That would earn them thier place in heaven, not killing innocents around the world.
Let’s stop affording this slime the same rights as we do Human Beings. Let’s drop the justice and policical correctness that some afford them. Let’s identify them as what they are, the enemy, and deal with them in a more forthright manner.
Peace on Earth, Good will to Those Who have earned it.
I get why you may be upset, R. Bruce. The problem with saying that “terrorists don’t deserve rights” is that, when prisoners at Guantanamo were tortured, some of them confessed. Any human, whether or not you want to consider them as such, would confess to any crime under enough torture. Some prisoners have never confessed or been found guilty of the crimes they were imprisoned for. There may be many innocent people at Guantanamo Bay and we are not giving them equal treatment, to even determine whether or not they are guilty.
What are your thoughts about an innocent man being trapped and tortured for years? I understand that terrorism is terrible but we have to treat everyone like people, whether or not they’re acting like it!