Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Polemic pontification


Here's a problem that's going to get more headlines in the coming months with the new Democratic administration - What do we do about all these Gitmo prisoners?

Sure, this has been discussed before, but it'll take on a new relevance with Obama in office. Bush wasn't going to shut Gitmo down, so it was easy to scream about abuses and constitutional rights.

Now that Obama's poised to take office, and has made noise about shutting the place down, opinions may very well change.

The linked story tells about a boy who was 14 when put inside Gitmo. At 21, he's finally getting out.

It seems pretty silly to think that a 14-year-old would be capable of everything our government accused him of, but fear is a strong emotion and it shook America like a doll after 9/11.

But what about the real terrorists being held in Gitmo who would try to damage our country if released? Bush used word play to get around conventions and hold people without good evidence. Many are still being held without a host of rights.

Oh, but I hear the right scream - they shouldn't have any rights! Why should they share guarantees that Americans have?

It's a dangerous slope. We put ourselves up as a paragon of freedom, yet we hold our enemies for years without good evidence. We torture, then change the name to remove the taint of doing something wrong.

I don't think Gitmo's going to close any time soon. People will argue over it, but Obama will likely change his opinion on the prison. It will stay open, despite the left whining over it.

And we'll just have to deal with our leaders saying one thing and doing another. We've done it before.

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