Letters to the Editor - November 08 2006

Enemy Detained

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As far as I am concerned some of the detainees in question were partly providing aid and comfort to our enemy during a war. It’s much better to have them detained in Guantanamo rather than running around the countryside of Afghanistan in support of the Taliban or al-Qaida, two organizations that could care less about civilized rules, regulations or Habeas Corpus. Which are fundamental rights afforded to AMERICANS. How about creating a legal team that would go over to the Middle East and talk the previous mentioned terror organizations into believing some sort of civilized law? Would they have the courage? I do hope that Mr. Chandler and Mrs. Wilhelm developed some type of appreciation for how well we treat our enemy POWs, should they still believe our government is horrible for locking up these prisoners, maybe watching one of the beheading videos aired by terrorist networks may change their position on the way America treats most of its captured enemy. Or, go over to Iraq and witness the dozens of people murdered everyday by terrorists. Women, children and innocent men. The statistics say an average of 3000 plus murders every month. Where is their Habeas Corpus? Nick Burg, where was his? Dan Pearl, where was his? We are so glad to extend American rights to those who wish to do Americans harm, destroy our way of life all together. Has any American had their right to Habeas Corpus suspended as a result of Guantanamo?

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-- jake

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Rebuttal

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Jake, what flavor of Faux News Kool-Aid you drinking this week? No Americans that we are aware of, have had the right to Habeas Corpus suspended, notice Jake, the words “We Are Aware of”! What Travel Agency is handling the “Iraqi Murder and Bombing Tours” so I can witness myself the daily slaughter of men, women and children! Can you pick a tour, say of US bombings of civilians, or maybe witness, say a market bombing?

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-- Frank

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We need the law

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The rule of law is the only hope that we have. Without it, we face an endless global war for power, “might makes right.” Either we believe in the Enlightenment-era idealism of those who framed the Constitution, in rights like habeas corpus and in liberty, or we believe that power is all that matters. I fear that those who control our government’s vast resources don’t believe in the idealism that made it great, and believe, instead, that we seek power for its own sake.

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-- T

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constitutional rights for Americans!!!

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I’m with Jake. These people are NOT Americans. They do not deserve the rights of an American citizen. We have them in Gitmo because they were captured trying to kill Americans. I don’t see this as a power grab. It is simple. You do not simply let your enemy free to try to kill you again. That, to me, is the definition of lunacy.

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-- Vince

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To Jake and Vince:

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I am appalled by your use of capitalization (AMERICANS/ NOT Americans) and the implied sense of entitlement it insinuates. Why is someone more worthy of humane treatment that is born in Seattle, than their counterpart born a couple minutes down the road on the other side of an imaginary line in Canada? Why should the dirt of land you are born on bequeath to you increased human rights? Your comments smack of an overarching sense of a popularized mentality of American entitlement; one that assumes, through no work of your own, you are entitled to a good economy, low energy prices, superior world status, an elevated sense of self-worth, and higher levels of basic human rights. This line of logic is flawed. Every person should be afforded equal human rights. Their race should not matter. Their nationality should not matter. Their religion should not matter. A person should be judged by his/her actions (i.e., the content of their character) and not upon their country of origin. This nationalistic argument elevates Americans above non-Americans and refutes the premise of equality of man. Note that I am not intimating that everyone ought to be privy to U.S. discretionary tax spending, but simply that every man is equal in the eyes of God and should be treated as such in the eyes of the law; for as they say — justice is blind, or at least it ought to be.

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-- Andrew

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The War Against Terror

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The fact that persons not specifically caught committing crimes against America are being held in Cuba is not the issue. They are. I believe that as the info of their condition does or does not trickle back to their families and friends, so does our position of zero tolerance for involvement, knowledge, or support (directly or indirectly) for the war against America and its allies. The reality and culture known to these prisoners of war is one that sponsors hatred and violence against the West. Freedom granted to these men means the ability to go home and engage in a quiet war with the same goal. Their goal of extinction of the Western ideal, accomplished by this generation or generations to come, is the battlefront Gitmo is confronting. Although unpopular and flawed, this position is necessary. The framers of the U.S. Constitution could not have imagined the complexity of the times in which we now live. While most of the articles stand the test of time, holding to others for the sake of some misguided idea that it was created to apply from whence thereon goes against the very grain it was created to protect. It is my opinion that these lawyers, now on a “crusade,” sit easily on the fence and change their ultimate goals as easily as the wind blows. This luxury is afforded only by those who have no real motivation to do anything except for personal accomplishment. Today they fancy themselves fighting against tyranny and oppression ordained by God or the powers of the universe. Tomorrow it will be something just as dramatic and significant as only the altruistic elite can address. I wonder where their opinions and loyalties would lie if before entering the interrogation room at Gitmo they were reshown the footage of the joyous celebration of the “innocent” upon hearing of the thousands of lives lost in New York on 9/11.

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-- Patrick