Bury Me Broken

Wheels Turning on Gitmo Closing

The single most damaging act to the goodwill and cooperative spirit of nations around the globe and the United States is the imprisoning of hundreds of "enemy combatants" in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Detainees from dozens of countries held over three years now without access to an attorney, without being accused of any crime and not allowed to even see their family, denied the basic rights that America stands for and the human rights it presses others to follow and now we are nonchalantly about to close Gitmo.

From AP:

The United States would rather have detainees at the Guantanamo Bay prison camp imprisoned by their home countries, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said Thursday.

Also from AP:

President Bush on Wednesday left open the possibility that the U.S. prison camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, could be shut down.

From Gulf News:

The top US Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee has urged the US to close the prison camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
"I think more Americans are in jeopardy as a consequence of the perception that exists worldwide with its existence than if there were no Gitmo." said Senator Joseph Biden, as he appeared on ABC's "This Week" program.

Now Joint Chiefs head Gen. Myers and Sec. Rumsfeld are saying that the prison doesn't need to be shut down but this is typical of what we've seen in the past from the administration. A couple of officials stand in opposition and are the temporary scapegoats, taking one for the team while we move ahead and make the decision.

The prison should not have been in existence in the first place. We cannot suspend the rules that we hold as the hallmark of our nation because others are not Americans. We have already released prisoners from Gitmo without charging them and they are back home with their families after 18 months to three years of prison. Some men were held because rival tribal families turned them in for the $5,000 being offered by U.S. military for suspects in Afghanistan.

"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere." -- Martin Luther King Jr.

Update 15 Jun 05: Republican senator from my state adds to the growing tide here:

Senator Mel Martinez of Florida said Friday that the Bush administration should consider closing the detention center at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. Mr. Martinez is the first high-profile Republican to make the suggestion.
"It's become an icon for bad stories, and at some point you wonder the cost-benefit ratio," Mr. Martinez said at the Florida Society of Newspaper Editors/Florida Press Association convention. "How much do you get out of having that facility there? Is it serving all the purposes you thought it would serve when initially you began it, or can this be done some other way a little better?"

posted by niteskolar @ 1:36 PM