Australian Gitmo inmate to be released

[Alexander's Horse]

Not the really Winston - the USG has admitted as much.

Once US courts ruled that the prisoners had rights the game was pretty much up.

[Winston]

And that's why I started out congratulating you and your countrymen on his return. This is a happy day for Australia, getting an obviously innocent, persecuted citizen free from the clutches of evil.

Now, only time will tell if he's managed to keep intact his conviction, fighting spirit and ambitions while being detained and abused by those moronic Americans. That was the case with the innocent Danish victim released last year, but there's no guarantee. One can only hope.

[Theben]

I detect sarcasm.

[Alexander's Horse]

He's not clever enough for that.

[Winston]

Sounds like AH needs to chill and perhaps even do a little gardening or something.

[Whaleboy]

Gitmo

The US is just shooting itself in the foot by having what is by definition a concentration camp and "military" justice ( a contradiction in terms if ever I saw one)

[Ted Striker]

Winston,

The US DID **** UP this time.

That prisoner is not the only one, and when he starts talking, we are going to hear about it.

Our very closest allies, Canada, Austraila, and the UK, have all pressured us to release Guantanamo prisoners, because we have held them against their will, without charging them, and without a fair trial.


I am telling all of you guys right now. Listen now and listen carefully. Abu Gharib is just the tip of the iceberg.

There is sh1t going down since 9/11 that we have been doing and it is outright dispicable. We transport prisoners, sometimes those who haven't even been charged to countries like Egypt, where we can torture them. This is a worldwide network and it has been going on for 3 years.


The US, we are the bad guys this time.

We have become everything we were taught as children to despise.

My country has disgraced itself and things just continue to get worse.

Instead of doing the right thing, people are now concerned with covering their asses.

This is like a bad nightmare come true.

[Ted Striker]

Now we are putting the same ******* who said, "forget about the Geneva Convention," into office as the highest "defender of justice," in the whole world.

[Whaleboy]

Couldn't have put it better myself, nicely done

Frankly, it scares me... how much further until something of truly Orwellian proportions occurs? Justice is the only thing stopping this from happening (free speech, presumption of innocence), but when it's bastardised like this i.e. can be found innocent by military tribunal but still held, or found guilty by biased judge and jury, where defendent is presumed to be guilty, and can be executed accordingly... that's surely the precursor to something even worse .

[Ted Striker]

Another lie we were all told:


We were told the people sent to Guantanamo were, "THE WORST OF THE WORST."

I looked the other way, believing this to be true. Now I find out, once again, that we have been lied to.

The worst of the worst, well they weren't before, but I'm sure they are now after we have given them 10 trillion reasons to hate us now.

[Tuberski]

Originally posted by Alexander's Horse
The US recently admitted that the majority of inmates had no intelligence of any value.

Of course they didn't have any intelligence, otherwise they wouldn't have been caught.



ACK!

[Ramo]

Ashcroft has detained over 5,000 foreign nationals in relation to terrorism since 9/11. Two of them have been convicted of terrorist crimes. Both convictions have been overturned.

[Whaleboy]

[Ramo]

Regarding the outsourcing of torture, there was an interesting Times of London article about these "torture flights" a couple months back:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2089-1357699,00.html

[Winston]

Waahh. Heaven forbid that the US and its WOT allies take enemy combattants prisoner and hold them for a couple of years in less than five star quality accomodation.

Of course nobody can guarantee that all of them had by their actions merited apprehension, and many have been released (some of them also as "gestures" to allies), but I'm with the US authorities on this, conditions being as they were it was better to be safe than sorry.

Or would you rather the US and allies hadn't taken any prisoners at all that couldn't be brought before a judge, for reasons of confidentiality/sensitivity or hopes of extracting knowledge of enemy infrastructure etc.?

These guys in Guantanamo aren't wrongfully imprisoned suspects or anything of the sort, they're known enemy combattants.

Save the massive indignation for a human rights cause that actually generates true sympathy for the victims, not just knee-jerk anti-Bush admin reactions. It's not that there aren't enough to choose from in the world today.