Over the weekend, the Department of Defense announced that 18 Guantánamo detainees of various nationalities had been released. One of the detainees was apparently a Libyan - unfortunately not our friend, Mr. Al-Ghizzawi.
Of course, just last week the New York Times quoted a Navy official saying “They’re all terrorists; they’re all enemy combatants.” This is the routine at GTMO; the government insists that Guantánamo holds the “worst of the worst” and yet it continues to release a fitful trickle of detainees. While it’s good news that innocent men are being freed, their long-delayed release raises questions as to why they were held without trial or charge for so many years in the first place.
The U.S. attempts to save face by insisting that “freedom doesn’t equate to innocence” and that all detainees were part of “Taliban, al-Qaida, or associated forces that are engaged in hostilities against the United States or its coalition partners.” But as attorney Joshua Colangelo-Bryan told the AP “it would simply be incredible to suggest that the United States has voluntarily released such 'vicious killers' or that such men had been miraculously reformed at Guantánamo."
- Adrian Bleifuss Prados
Monday, December 18, 2006
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"The government insists that Guantanamo holds the worst of the worst..." Right. This government, presently instituted, lies alot, repeatedly...pathologically. Is Camp Iguana still housing children? Are prisoners still kept in humane society style dog kennels?
Mr. Al-Ghizzawi has tb and has been left untreated. A little bit reminiscent of the Tuskegee syphillis experiments. Is there no sphere of recourse for these people?
Does an American Military doctor sign over his soul along with the Hippocratic oath when he or she enlists or are those separate events?
Is public health a passe concept? Did I miss something? Yes, human rights, dignity, love...Geneva Conventions...those are gone, quaint, old-fashioned now.
It sickens me that I even have to ponder an institutional decision to ignore public health, because it's all so much worse than that for we who "live free or die," we who value life liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
Ms. Gorman et al. if there's anything I can do to help you, let me know. I'm writechic@gmail.com. I'm capable of writing press releases, editing, etc. Just ask.
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