Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsAt Gitmo, the guilty go free, the innocent remain...
http://america.aljazeera.com/opinions/2014/6/guantanamo-detaineestalibanbergdahlswap.html<snip>
Controversy has arisen over the U.S. government deal that released five Taliban prisoners held for years in Guantánamo Bay in exchange for Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, an American soldier captured and held in Afghanistan since June 2009. Critics have called the decision hypocritical.
There is a case that can be made for the allegation. The five Taliban were arguably among those who had actually committed crimes, if fighting foreign troops who invaded their country could be deemed an offense. At the very least, they had taken part in hostilities and might, originally, have been legitimately detained as bona fide prisoners of war a position that would be more defensible if only the U.S. respected the Geneva Conventions.
Compare those five men to the 78 detainees remaining in Guantánamo Bay who have been held there for 12 years or more and yet have been cleared for release for half that time. With the Taliban five headed for freedom, the cleared prisoners now make up more than 52 percent of the 149 detainees left there. Has there ever existed another prison where more than half the prisoners were told they had been cleared to leave but they could not go?
<snip>
The fool was the one who opened Guantánamo. A CIA agent said 10 years ago now that for every detainee held without trial in this notorious base, we had provoked 10 others to wish America harm. If asked today, he would probably revise his estimate up a hundredfold. Although the day after 9/11, the U.S. had the sympathy of the world, the experiments of the George W. Bush administration with rendition, torture, Abu Ghraib and Guantánamo Bay drained all that goodwill away. Such policies have made the world a far more fractured and hate-filled place.
.....more
InfoView thread info, including edit history
TrashPut this thread in your Trash Can (My DU » Trash Can)
BookmarkAdd this thread to your Bookmarks (My DU » Bookmarks)
3 replies, 491 views
ShareGet links to this post and/or share on social media
AlertAlert this post for a rule violation
PowersThere are no powers you can use on this post
EditCannot edit other people's posts
ReplyReply to this post
EditCannot edit other people's posts
Rec (2)
ReplyReply to this post
3 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight:
NoneDon't highlight anything
5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
At Gitmo, the guilty go free, the innocent remain... (Original Post)
kentuck
Jun 2014
OP
Maedhros
(10,007 posts)1. Now that Obama has proven that Congressional obstruction is no deterrent to releasing prisoners,
there is no excuse for him not to release the remainder of the detainees.
kentuck
(111,052 posts)2. Also, since the most dangerous are already gone.
There should be less criticism in releasing the other 149?
This may have been a brilliant strategic move by Obama?
mwrguy
(3,245 posts)3. He could release them all right now?
I don't know if that would work.