****************

Well, we have a good test case right here in the u.s.a. To prove
the hypothesis that some, a few, a lot or many would return to
their terrorist ways, just release jared loughner and see what he
does. But only he’s crazy, while religious fanatics are just
ideological just as political ideologues are also which excuses
the last 2 to do their thing for ‘good’ reason.

The article cited in the (London) Times (Jan 10,2010)by Marshall above is quoting a “spokesman for the Pentagon” named Geoff Morrell. The overall allegation is that a number of returnees from Guantanamo re-enter terrorist activities. The implication is that if others are freed, they will (may) do likewise.  (Again, guilty till proven innocent = justice upside-down.)
  Does this surprise anyone?  It shouldn’t, because the persecuting techniques used at Guantanamo die nothing but terrorize prisoners daily and nightly, even including water-boardings.  Terror breeds more
terror, as everybody knows.
  If Guantanamo is too dangerous to close and the prisoners are too dangerous to release (all of whom have never been tried, and some of whom may be innocent) we have only ourselves to thank for permitting Bush/Cheney policies on “extraordinary rendition” to continue without cease, right up to the present moment.
  It is quite clear that Bush, Cheney et al should have been tried and judged so that the entire Gulag could be brought out into the light.  As things stand, it is still obscured by fear, cowardice and
evasion.

Dear Expat,
I agree with most of your sentiments, though not all of us have the freedom to leave (however, it is a consideration).

And I have been overseas enough to know that there is a noticeable difference between the culture of the various countries and ours (they seem much more knowledgeable about world events and the need to co-exist), yet their governments still send troops to fight in our corporate wars (tell me which European countries didn’t send troops because they felt the war was unjust?)

Just once what I would like to see the American people who are truly unhappy with their elected officials not fall into the same trap of voting for the lesser of two evils.

If enough of the disenfranchised people registered and voted, and the winning vote got less than 50% (closer to 40%) of the vote, that might send a message to others (probably won’t change things, but it might).

I refuse to give the stick to the man who is going to beat me with it. I have voted third party for many years.

http://www.NotOneMore.US

“I’d rather vote for what I want and not get it than vote for what I don’t want, and get it.” - Eugene Debs

I thought the first thing Barry Hussein Soetoro was going to do after he got elected was to close Guantanamo down? What happened Barry? Sounds like you didn’t see the big picture earlier Barry?
Well, now that we have the good news, looks like my “Waterboarding Instructor” t-shirts are back in style? Thanks Barry.

If you no longer want your country to support concentration camps like Gitmo; get into illegal wars like we have in the middle east; stop transferring our tax dollars to corporate bailouts (and their ‘bonuses’); you have to stop supporting the democratic party.

Next election, take the pledge for peace and not vote for candidates that support the status quo.

Vote third party, vote Green Party, Vote Ralph Nader, just vote. Even if you write in someone. It is time to show our elected officials that they don’t have the support of the majority of the people. When the ‘winning’ vote only get 40% of the vote, it will be a clear indication that they don’t have the mandate of the people. (I’m not saying that anything will change, but it might).

If you want to support republican policies, vote for a democrat.

If you want to support peace and justice, vote third party.

http://www.NotOneMore.US - Take the Pledge for Peace

Even the (new, softer) BBC refers to this as Obama’s humiliation or something like that..

I could only accept that maybe candidate Obama was thwarted or humiliated in this.. our president Obama on the other hand would (judged from his record) be nonplussed by any controversy on his actions and policies..

Adios!

Neo-Cons in the White House

Fascinating how the words Evil, Neo-Con, and Cabal are no longer bantered about on these pages.

Gitmo, Military Tribunals, the Patriot Act, Domestic Electronic Surveillance, Ten Fold Increase in Predator Drone (summary execution) Attacks , Rendition, Enhanced Interrogations, Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran and Pakistan.  All heralded as proof-positive of a Neo-Con cabal in the Oval Office.

It does seem that most on this Web space were wrong for nearly a decade.

-

Has the U.S. President determined that the Bush Administration got all of the above correct under very difficult circumstances or, is the evil Obama Cabal making all the same evil mistakes?

Concur with “Lilpeople”

Personally, I believe that “combatants” should never have been removed from the theater. interrogated on the spot and if necessary, tried by Afghans or Iraqis or military tribunals. That way local character witnesses could have vouched for the innocents rounded up. Certainly not perfect, nonetheless, we would have closed a culture gap.

GTMO was set up to make it easy for spooks and Justice to shuttle in and out with so-called intel while serving to disorientate captives. Bringing home these individuals also served as propaganda to sustain the perception that terrorism is just down the street.

Obama punts?  In an unusual bipartisan collaboration Congress has blocked him from any action on Gitmo.  They have refused to fund civilian trials, refused to allow him to move detainees to the US and close Gitmo, and impeding him from transferring detainees to other countries.  He is hardly a dictator, so we should blame the people who deserve it, Congress.

By TDoff, March 8 at 12:15 am Link to this comment

<<The only danger many of them pose is to many of their captors and guards,
who, when the true stories are told, should be subject to imprisonment
themselves.>>

About 25% of those released rejoined terrorist groups so your statement isn’t
backed up by fact.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article6975971.ece

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2008625146_gitmo14.ht
ml

etc…

The disappointment of many of those who voted for Obama is clear.  What is not
clear though is how widespread it will be when it comes to the next election,
and whether the rejection of Obama will be for all the right reasons. It cannot
be a question of “I like that war but I don’t like this other one,” or “I like this
candidate for what he did for gays, or women, or a religious group, or a
particular city or state.”  When we have bad government, we all suffer in the
end. We need to understand that a vote for any Democrat, Republican, Tea
Partier or Libertarian means either a step backward or more of the same,
regardless of the charisma and personal conduct of the candidates.  We must
take a chance in voting for new ideas and solutions to our problems without
expecting instant magic.  That’s what change is. The people in the Middle East
whom we’re applauding for trying to change their countries are doing just that.

As far as those currently in office, starting with Obama, all they’re
doing is working to secure another term in office. There may be a few exceptions
but you have to wonder how naive or inept they must be if they still think they
can change things from the inside. It’s too late for that.

Come next election, if in serious doubt, it’s much healthier not to vote at all. That in
itself can be a message.

Another outrageous capitulation to “legalized immorality.”  This entire torture establishment means many jobs for “professional” psychologists who have thrown their Hippocratic oath to hell and gone.  Poke around on line and see how the APA is being torn apart by this gross transgression.
  The young Egyptians are way ahead of us. We should thank them for their courage, their nonviolence and their intelligence.  But—we’re looking more like Mubarak every day.

****************

So our president, waldo, has gone in to put on 1st down, again.
Just when it was thought he had been sent to the locker room.

Of course Obama reneged on this ‘campaign promise’ as well…. why is anyone surprised?

Obama is simply the face of the Empire. 

The FED runs the show and the military powerhouse of profiteering calls the shots and directs funds / creates markets.

Gitmo-loving Democrats are pukes.  California Ray voted for Cynthia McKinney;
and Barack Obama is making her look better every day.

Obama rolled over on this campaign issue pure and simple.

It was one issue which I liked about him and caused me to vote for him.  Normalization with Cuba.

The evil which allows Guantanamo to be open is the same evil which allowed Auschwitz to be open.

Let’s see, Guantanamo has been there for nine years, with detainees* held without trial or even charges being filed. To alleviate charges of ‘indefinite’ detention, detainees’* cases are now going to be ‘reviewed’ every four years. So ‘indefinite’ has been revised to ‘definite’. And ‘definite’ could be ‘lifetime’, in four-year increments. Well, that’s a giant leap forward for justice and the rule of law. Who could complain about that?

The only danger many of them pose is to many of their captors and guards, who, when the true stories are told, should be subject to imprisonment themselves.

*In the civilized world, Guantanamo ‘detainees’ are known as ‘tortured gulag prisoners’.