(UK Foreign Secretary Jack) Straw: 'Gitmo should not be U.S. gulag'

sabra

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Tue Feb-21-06 09:38 AM
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(UK Foreign Secretary Jack) Straw: 'Gitmo should not be U.S. gulag'

http://www.upi.com/InternationalIntelligence/view.php?StoryID=20060221-074851-2983r

Straw: 'Gitmo should not be U.S. gulag'

BAGHDAD, Feb. 21 (UPI) -- British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said Tuesday he did not believe the United States wanted to maintain a Soviet-style Gulag at Guantanamo Bay.

However it was for Washington to decide when the controversial detention camp should be closed, he said.

...

Speaking to BBC Radio about the issue during a visit to Iraq, Straw said: "I am absolutely clear that the U.S. has no intention of maintaining a Gulag in Guantanamo Bay. They want to see the situation resolved and they would like it other than it is. However, that is the situation that they have."

What to do with the remaining detainees at Guantanamo was a matter for the U.S. administration, he said, adding: "Frankly I'm not going to second-guess the decisions they make."

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Voice1

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Tue Feb-21-06 09:52 AM
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1. Jack Straw won't "second guess" Uzbek's brutal dictator either

You've probably heard of Islam Karimov's fondness for boiling people alive in Uzbekistan, with the complicity of both Britain and the US.

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Briar

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Tue Feb-21-06 10:04 AM
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2. I heard that interview

He wriggled and wriggled and finally refused to call for the place to be closed. He is wormlike in his spinelessness, but far less useful.

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EarlG ADMIN

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Tue Feb-21-06 10:11 AM
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3. Hmm

I seem to remember the righties frothing at the mouth last time the word "gulag" was used...

Multiple choice: The "Gulag of our times" is a) Chinese labor camps; b) Castro's dungeons; or c) North Korean prisons. Amnesty International has an answer: d) none of the above. Their 2005 report on human rights compares the American detention facility at Guantanamo Bay to the notorious Soviet penal colonies.

It may be pointless to respond to allegations so unhinged ... What the U.S. is guilty of is running afoul of Amnesty International and the Red Cross's political agenda.

http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1282/is_11_57/ai_n15378790

U.S. officials responded with outrage. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld rebuffed such a comparison, saying a gulag was where the Soviets "kept millions in forced labor concentration camps."

President Bush said the comparison was "absurd" and Vice President Dick Cheney said he was offended by Amnesty's assertions.

http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/06/05/amnesty.detainee/

I wonder what they'll say now that the British Foreign Secretary has used the exact same terminology?

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Voice1

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Tue Feb-21-06 10:15 AM
Response to Reply #3

4. Well, I think he'll be hauled in front of Blair

No doubt Blair will have in his office fairly quickly, telling him off for going off message on the "911 happened, so anyone who tortures and abuses in response to that is alright by us" argument.

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MrPrax

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Tue Feb-21-06 10:48 AM
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5. Oh it's a gulag...

but it's a better quality gulag using the much enhanced Gulag 2.0 software and the best that Straw can tell is that the US hasn't violated the user agreement.

Nice to see British Labour making a tough stand on this one... :eyes:

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Voice1

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Wed Feb-22-06 07:08 AM
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6. Straw interview

From the interview with Straw:
http://www.blairwatch.co.uk/node/844

Interviewer - Well, alright. Let me put to you a comment from the Chairman of the Foreign Affaies Select Committee Mike Gates who said there was a feeling amonst MPs, thinking I think of your back benchers, that a more forceful statement on this question should be made, and he said the reason it wasn't being was he said" because I suspect it is part of a general approach to speak quietly to the Americans and not make big public statements.

Jack - Well, er, ahem, there is err, it would, these things, the easiest thing in Foreign Policy, or policy generally to make loud public statements. The question then, er is er, is anything achieved by those?
Erm, and for sure sometimes it is neccesary to speak sharply in particular situations, er, but I'm er, clear that the position that the PM, John Reid, and er may I suggest I have taken in respect of Guantanamo bay and other issues is the appropriate one...

Continued...., makes a worthwile read, there's a link there where you can listen to the interview as well.

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