What Goes Around Comes Around
There are 660 detainees at Camp Delta in Guantanamo. Some have
been held for as long as 18 months with no charges brought against them. They
have no idea what they are charged with, how long they will be detained and have
no access to legal counsel.
The neutral Swiss based organization, The International Committee of the Red
Cross, has denounced the US treatment stating that the uncertainty of their
future and lack of legal recourse have been the equivalent of psychological
torture to the Afghan detainees. Some are merely suspected of having links to
the Taliban or al Qaeda organization but never actually belonged to either
group. Those suspicions have never been proven.
US Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld has repeatedly refused to grant the
protections of the Geneva Conventions to this group. For a nation with plans for
perpetual war with the choice being not whether or not we will go to war, but
rather which country we will invade next on our list, this is a foolish and
dangerous position to take. At least 2 of the other countries in our "axis of
evil", Iran and North Korea, will prove a far more formidable foe than poverty
stricken Afghanistan. US ground troops in those countries stand a good chance of
capture. "What goes around, comes around".
This administration has been lauded by its supporters for having courage in
tackling terrorism. How is it courageous to act irresponsibly by risking someone
else's life with statements like "Bring 'em on" or ignoring international
humanitarian law in the treatment of captives? There is no risk to Bush,
Rumsfeld or anyone else in this administration, sitting safely in Washington.
They stir up the trouble and then send someone else to deal with it. There is no
honor in that. It's like a little bully who throws a rock at someone and then
runs and hides behind his big brother, in this case the US military, peeking out
from behind as the adversary is dispatched. There is nothing heroic in that. In
fact, it is the epitome of cowardice. They talk the talk and then send America's
young sons and daughters to have to walk the walk.
The pictures of hooded and bound captives kneeling in the dirt in a fenced
enclosure with US rifles trained on them were seen around the world. Military
spokesmen have admitted to exposing them to heat and cold, depriving them of
sleep and forcing them to remain in uncomfortable positions for long periods.
These are violations of the Geneva Conventions. Rumsfeld dismisses this by
saying these are not POWs. According to Article 5 of the Third Geneva
Convention, a tribunal must be convened to determine their status.
Article 2 of the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or
Degrading Treatment or Punishment, which has been ratified by the US states: "No
exceptional circumstance whatsoever, whether a state of war or a threat of war,
internal political instability or any other public emergency, may be invoked as
a justification of torture." Articles 4 and 5, make the violation of this rule a
criminal offense of universal jurisdiction regardless of their status.
The administration is setting a terrible standard for other countries to follow
when America's new foreign policy is one of aggression and pre-emption. This
makes the capture of US troops a high eventual probability. We can only expect
to get as good as we gave. Are we prepared to see pictures of hooded and bound
American military personnel kneeling in a fenced enclosure on the 6 o'clock
news?
Somebody has to make this administration stop throwing rocks.
11-20-03