I Can't Gitmo Satisfaction

[traderx]

When the POW's at Gitmo are released, where do they go?

Do they go on trial? Back to their country of origin, where they were captured or to the good ol' USA?

 

[30ashopper]

Sticky situation. It'll be interesting to see what the Obama Administration decides to do. There are so many issues that revolve around this, it's no wonder Bush decided to hold them indefinitely as combatants. I'd like to see trials, but how do you do that in a fair and open court system when national security may also play into the evidence? I sense it'll be handled in some sort of closed court trial system.

On the flip side, some will likely win their cases, in which case we'd likely have to ship them back to Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, Bosnia, Europe, Canada, and where ever else we found them and just turn them loose.

 

[traderx]

Bush was the first to treat captured terrorists as POW's as oppsed to criminals. This seems correct to me. What is different is that we are not at war with a specific country but a group dispersed throughout the world. Still, their attacks amount to acts of war. In past wars, aren't POW's held until the war is over and then released back to their country?

I have heard that the countries do not want the terrorists back within their borders so they may end up in the US. I am behind the curve on this so don't know if that is true.

 

[30ashopper]

Bush was the first to treat captured terrorists as POW's as oppsed to criminals. This seems correct to me. What is different is that we are not at war with a specific country but a group dispersed throughout the world. Still, their attacks amount to acts of war. In past wars, aren't POW's held until the war is over and then released back to their country?

I have heard that the countries do not want the terrorists back within their borders so they may end up in the US. I am behind the curve on this so don't know if that is true.

Yep, yep and yep. Should be interesting to see how Obama handles the situation.

 

[winddancer]

http://sweetness-light.com/archive/released-gitmo-terrorist-helped-kill-7-iraqis

http://sweetness-light.com/archive/released-gitmo-terrorist-blows-himself-up

This is what happens when you release Gitmo terrorists...God help us if they are brought to the US!

 

[NotDeadYet]

Bush was the first to treat captured terrorists as POW's as oppsed to criminals.

But the problem here is that we do not know that they are terrorists. Granted, probably most are, but even that is an assumption. If you have so much faith in your government that you think no innocent persons could get swept up in the fear that followed 911, then I surely hope you are never in the wrong place at the wrong time. IMHO to hold anyone for years without a trial and without access to the legal system is a disgrace and a slippery slope we do not want to go down.

 

[poppy]

Sticky situation. It'll be interesting to see what the Obama Administration decides to do. There are so many issues that revolve around this, it's no wonder Bush decided to hold them indefinitely as combatants. I'd like to see trials, but how do you do that in a fair and open court system when national security may also play into the evidence? I sense it'll be handled in some sort of closed court trial system.

On the flip side, some will likely win their cases, in which case we'd likely have to ship them back to Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, Bosnia, Europe, Canada, and where ever else we found them and just turn them loose.

Key word here.

 

[traderx]

But the problem here is that we do not know that they are terrorists. Granted, probably most are, but even that is an assumption. If you have so much faith in your government that you think no innocent persons could get swept up in the fear that followed 911, then I surely hope you are never in the wrong place at the wrong time. IMHO to hold anyone for years without a trial and without access to the legal system is a disgrace and a slippery slope we do not want to go down.

Faith in my government? Oh no, you have me confused with someone else.

Yes, I have been in the wrong place at the wrong time and many other variations on this theme.

Do you agree that the folks being detained at Gitmo are prisoners of war?

 

[NotDeadYet]

Do you agree that the folks being detained at Gitmo are prisoners of war?

No, I don't. Leaving aside the question of whether or not we can declare proven terrorists to be POW's because we are engaged in a "war" on terror, I can't agree for the simple reason that we don't know who they are, where they were picked up, what they were doing when picked up, etc.

 

[traderx]

No, I don't. Leaving aside the question of whether or not we can declare proven terrorists to be POW's because we are engaged in a "war" on terror, I can't agree for the simple reason that we don't know who they are, where they were picked up, what they were doing when picked up, etc.

Fair enough. What should we do with the POW's/terrorists/innocent folks plucked off the streets when they are released?