Friday, June 03, 2005

War crimes and misdemeanors

Whether or not Guantanamo Bay is a "Gulag of our times" as the non-partisan and globally respected organization Amnesty International has labeled it, the facility and the atrocities that have taken place on this compound are far from model behavior. (http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=05/06/01/1441204)
There was a time in the history of this country where the phrase "military intelligence" was not an oxymoron. There was a time when the United States treated war prisoners in a humane manner because it was thought, quite rationally, that if you treat your prisoners well then the enemy would be more likely to treat your men well if they were captured. But gone are those days of common sense. Every beheading, every act of torture done to one of our service men and women, aid workers and contractors is directly related to the atrocities at such facilities as Abu Ghraib and Gitmo. That bit of wisdom that our armed forces used to practice, do unto others, has proven true. That is the part of the story that people dare talk about. (http://www.progressive.org/july05/roth0705.php) But the story about Amnesty International's charges, including the evidence that they built their claim on, is not covered in the mainstream media, so please read the stories I have linked you to.
I think you will be convinced, given the mounting evidence, that we need an independent council to look into this.