Help Elok fathom Republican rhetoric

[Drake Tungsten]

The thing is about 20% have rejoined the fight but that's rather astonishingly low. That means 80% either gave up or much more likely were never terrorists to begin with.

You need to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that every single 'show trial' they're having that you referenced is a waste of time. That is, you need to tell us how you know -- with all of the many elements at your disposal as an uneducated redneck -- why these people are doubtlessly guilty.

What a stupid argument. People are calling the NYC trials "show-trials" because the accused won't be released even if they're found innocent. They aren't fair trials.

[Ogie Oglethorpe]

What a stupid argument. People are calling the NYC trials "show-trials" because the accused won't be released even if they're found innocent. They aren't fair trials.

And that is the crux of the farce. The intent of these trials is to demonstrate that the U.S. is a nation predicated upon the rule of law and that regardless of the indicted party they will receive due process. Doesn't quite square with the assertions given by Holder and Obama that a) they will be convicted and b) when pressed upon the issue if in the unlikely event found not guilty, they will not be released.

So much for the demonstration that the U.S. is a nation based upon the rule of law.

[Drake Tungsten]

Don't forget that the Administration is only bringing to civilian trial those accused terrorists that it is confident it can convict. Those accused terrorists with weaker cases against them are going to remain in the military commission system. That's some triumph for fairness and the rule of law...

[Guynemer]

The proposed site in Michigan where the terrorism suspects would be moved to is near a (literal) one-stoplight town named Standish. There is NOTHING THERE. It is about 100 miles north of Detroit (and Dearborn). (In the "hand map" of Michigan, Standish is where your index finger meets your palm, on the Lake Huron shore.) In the astronomically unlikely that a suspect were to escape, he'd have no way to get to Dearborn. Hoekstra is a massive douche and complete ********.

[Drake Tungsten]

It is about 100 miles north of Detroit (and Dearborn).

Way too close. Let's stick them in Yucca Mountain; we need to use that complex for something.

[MrFun]

Don't forget that the Administration is only bringing to civilian trial those accused terrorists that it is confident it can convict. Those accused terrorists with weaker cases against them are going to remain in the military commission system. That's some triumph for fairness and the rule of law...

Oh, those poor terrorists who will not get a fair trial! When did you ever care about terrorists getting a fair trial? My impression is that you just want to execute them, and ask questions later.

I care about due process and fair trial, but coming from you, this smacks of hypocrisy.

[Ben Kenobi]

Basically. If they escape, they'll get help because all the Muslims in the US are terrorist lovers.

Where did I say 'all' muslims? Abdullah Abdullah is helping him.

All I am arguing is that some of the Muslims in America are terrorist supporters, and that a significant number of those who are live in Dearborn.

That means 80% either gave up or much more likely were never terrorists to begin with.

Or it could mean that they bought the farm. It could mean that they still are engaged in terrorism but they haven't been caught again. Lots of possibilities.

just had the ill luck to be foreigners in Afghanistan at a time when the US was offering a $10,000 bounty on foreigners in Afghanistan. To a goat herder living on $1 a day ten grand is a fortune so they swept up anyone and everyone they could and there were many cases of people turning in people they didn't like but who were innocent just to get the money.

Oh really? That bounty was on Jihadis. Say you aren't an Afghani. You wander around in Afghanistan as a Tourist carting around your AK-47, and beating up on the locals. You might just be a Jihadi...

[Ben Kenobi]

Standish is only 3 miles from I-75.

Standish is also only 5.5 miles from Lake Huron. Get a boat in Saginaw bay, and you're on the other side of an international border. 75 mile trip across Lake Huron. Say 5 hours or so to get across and 3 to get to an international border.

44 miles from Saginaw, where he could hop on a bus depot to go anywhere he wants.

At a minimum, you'd need to put a car on I-75 or a boat out on the water. Hop in the car, and drive S on I-75 to Saginaw. Boat, sail across lake Huron and go to Canada.

The hardest part would be to escape in the first place, but if he's out, and has prior arrangements for a vehicle on I-75, he's gone. You'd have about an hour to catch the car before he goes to Saginaw, and about half an hour to catch him on foot.

[David Floyd]

You know what I love about liberals? They assume that everyone plays by the same rules. Sorry, but they don't. When we're dealing with terrorists, who we arrested overseas or in the process of planning terror attacks domestically, I think we can safely assume they aren't Carebears. That being the case, **** 'em. Lock 'em up and throw away the key, or better yet, just kill them. The concerns about punishing the innocent are kinda stupid, in the same sense that many "innocent" people in prison currently could have avoided prison by keeping better company. In other words, if you're not a thug/drug dealer/murderer/etc., but you hang out with those who do those things, don't be shocked or offended if you wind up "wrongfully" convicted. Yeah, it might not be strictly fair, but you could have avoided it.

Same for innocents stuck in Gitmo. Maybe if you'd vociferously denounced radical Islam and terrorism earlier in life, not provided any sort of aid and comfort to militants, and generally avoided anyone involved in terrorism, odds are you wouldn't be in Gitmo.

Personally, I think it's interesting that since 9/11, there hasn't been a successful terrorist attack on American soil, so, in the immortal words of Colonel Nathan R. Jessup, USMC, I would rather you just said "thank you", and went on your way.

[Guynemer]

Wow. Who could possibly argue with that air-tight reasoning?

[David Floyd]

I should be on a debate team. Seriously, I'm like the Chuck Norris of coherent argument.

[MrFun]

DF wouldn't recognize sarcasm if it smacked him in the face.

[SlowwHand]

Ex-Gitmo detainees help al-Qaida in Yemen
Inmate’s potential involvement in terror plot raises concerns over releases

updated 5:27 p.m. MT, Thurs., Dec . 31, 2009

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - As a prisoner at Guantanamo, Said Ali al-Shihri said he wanted freedom so he could go home to Saudi Arabia and work at his family's furniture store.

Instead, al-Shihri, who was released in 2007 under the Bush administration, is now deputy leader of al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, a group that has claimed responsibility for the Christmas Day attempted bomb attack on a Detroit-bound airliner.

His potential involvement in the terrorist plot has raised new opposition to releasing Guantanamo Bay inmates, complicating President Barack Obama's pledge to close the military prison in Cuba. It also highlights the challenge of identifying the hard-core militants as the administration decides what to do with the remaining 198 prisoners.

What else? Some of you don't seem to get that these aren't people just randomly gathered and detained.

[David Floyd]

DF wouldn't recognize sarcasm if it smacked him in the face

Apparently, neither would you. ****ing dip****

[Kidlicious]

You know what I love about liberals? They assume that everyone plays by the same rules. Sorry, but they don't. When we're dealing with terrorists, who we arrested overseas or in the process of planning terror attacks domestically, I think we can safely assume they aren't Carebears. That being the case, **** 'em. Lock 'em up and throw away the key, or better yet, just kill them. The concerns about punishing the innocent are kinda stupid, in the same sense that many "innocent" people in prison currently could have avoided prison by keeping better company. In other words, if you're not a thug/drug dealer/murderer/etc., but you hang out with those who do those things, don't be shocked or offended if you wind up "wrongfully" convicted. Yeah, it might not be strictly fair, but you could have avoided it.

Same for innocents stuck in Gitmo. Maybe if you'd vociferously denounced radical Islam and terrorism earlier in life, not provided any sort of aid and comfort to militants, and generally avoided anyone involved in terrorism, odds are you wouldn't be in Gitmo.

Personally, I think it's interesting that since 9/11, there hasn't been a successful terrorist attack on American soil, so, in the immortal words of Colonel Nathan R. Jessup, USMC, I would rather you just said "thank you", and went on your way.

I think liberals better recognize that there is internal conflict in muslim countries. Not all the people there support the terrorists. But thanx to guys like you and George W. Bush the terrorists now have more sympathy.