tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1860577477796758832.post7721999173544015888..comments2023-10-25T04:06:01.936-04:00Comments on The Guantánamo Blog: Return to the battlefield?? UpdatedH. Candace Gormanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15947267626405585323noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1860577477796758832.post-17675589098424937562008-05-09T18:13:00.000-04:002008-05-09T18:13:00.000-04:00I totally agree, Candace. Though not all the rele...I totally agree, Candace. Though not all the released detainees from Gitmo and Abu Ghraib ended up in Iraq, I note that the few mental health professionals who lived there before the war are now largely gone. Here’s a country that once had something like 25 million people, now has some 2 million internally displaced people, and has only a handful of psychiatrists and psychologists remaining to Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1860577477796758832.post-44882175531761921592008-05-09T02:17:00.000-04:002008-05-09T02:17:00.000-04:00I don't know the answer either but I would suggest...I don't know the answer either but I would suggest that this man who had been released and seemed to be living a normal life for more than three years probably was never treated for the psychological problems that no doubt developed from his previous three + years in US captivity. He probably snapped like many of our own soldiers do from the stress of war... by the way thousands of our own H. Candace Gormanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15947267626405585323noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1860577477796758832.post-26264288646597339932008-05-08T16:59:00.000-04:002008-05-08T16:59:00.000-04:00Yes, Talking Dog, I agree – we don’t know what cau...Yes, Talking Dog, I agree – we don’t know what caused this individual to act this way. <BR/><BR/>My point would have been better made simply by raising the question rather than presuming the answer. And truthfully, I don’t presume to know what made this person do what he did. When it comes to domestic criminal law (a subject about which I know just enough to be dangerous), I am fairly certain Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1860577477796758832.post-9020921981226356652008-05-08T15:50:00.000-04:002008-05-08T15:50:00.000-04:00Well, I concede that we can certainly go there; in...Well, I concede that we can certainly go there; in fact, if we don't go there, we won't get to the bottom of torture, Abu Ghraib, the shredding of Geneva Conventions, etc., so that said, I fully agree: we kind of have to go there. <BR/><BR/>I should have made myself clearer on that point. I will simply say that it is entirely unknown (and probably unknowable) what made this particular person, Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1860577477796758832.post-31809168021194985072008-05-08T15:18:00.000-04:002008-05-08T15:18:00.000-04:00Why shouldn’t we go there? Why should we refuse t...Why shouldn’t we go there? Why should we refuse to even discuss the fact that our actions affect the way people view us overseas? This is a conversation we’ve refused to have since 9/11.<BR/><BR/>My argument about “creating the monster” is part and parcel of the whole thing. All of the problems you identify with Guantánamo and the military commissions sham feed into these bitter anti-American Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1860577477796758832.post-52921519174579336402008-05-08T13:02:00.000-04:002008-05-08T13:02:00.000-04:00Well, it's kind of that last point (i.e. the relea...Well, it's kind of that last point (i.e. the release was political) that matters; I have already seen some hostility expressed out in blogworld toward Tom Wilner, who represented Kuwaitis (including the alleged suicide bomber)... but as usual, the derision toward him ignores the fact that Tom had nothing whatever to do with his client being released-- as you noted, this was entirely a political Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1860577477796758832.post-27081652073563665472008-05-08T12:48:00.000-04:002008-05-08T12:48:00.000-04:00Excellent commentary, Candace.My question, though,...Excellent commentary, Candace.<BR/><BR/>My question, though, is this: Why would people who have been so abused by our government <I>not</I> harbor such animosity that they would want to strike back at us or our surrogates? That doesn’t justify killing innocent civilians; but how long can we go on denying that our actions, particularly the abuses at Abu Ghraib and Guantánamo, have no effect on Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com