Comments on: On Closing Gitmo: What Glenn Greenwald Won’t Talk About

By: Crimson Politics

Crimson Politics — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 16:31:14 +0000

As with any prison anywhere in the world, innocents do get hurt. Doesn’t mean terrorists don’t get caught and reveal intelligence that help us protect our country.

By: Jason, Managing Editor

Jason, Managing Editor — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 13:39:18 +0000

Unless your argument is that such innocuous situations explain away ALL of the Gitmo detainees, Rudi, your speculation is just irrelevant to the point.

By: Rudi666

Rudi666 — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 10:46:20 +0000

Please find some data on battlefield detentions. I wonder how many “terrorists” are just a neighbor turned in for a bounty or an enemy of a warlord.

By: Crimson Politics

Crimson Politics — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 21:42:53 +0000

Criminal courts are not an option. Terrorists captured on battlefields cannot be tried in a court of law, there is no evidence (it’s thousands of miles away), witnesses are scarce, and if they are released, they will be released on American soil, ready to perpetrate crimes against America on US soil.

You will be doing their terrorist work for them by bringing them to US land.

Regardless of how wrong torture is morally, it is one of the ways we prevent terrorism. I don’t understand what moral obligation you have to a person who has been caught shooting at US soldiers, who also have families for the purpose of religion.

Do you think, Al Qaeda will say “aww, America you are so kind to let those prisoners out of Guantanamo, I’m going to stop terrorist activities now.” It’s not going to help the situation.

What about “winning the hearts and minds of others,” that’s just an illusion. Since when has the US ever been respected for any military action? You think Europe or other Radicals respected us when we invaded Afghanistan, killing 5,000 civilians?

You think anyone respected the US prior to 9/11? You think the Russians respected us for what happened in the Balkans? You think Rwandans respected us for leaving them for genocide? You think radical extremists respected us anywhere considering we aided Israel in the past?

Remember that 9/11, was not caused by US troops torturing, or invading countries, it was caused simply by our trade agreements with Israel and simply because we are not Radical Islamists.

What people’s mistake is? They believe that AQ and terrorists do what they do, because of our own actions— those are just excuses, it’s really about ideology that America is immoral cursed land of non-Muslims.

By: Michael Merritt

Michael Merritt — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 05:27:03 +0000

Not sure where there’s disagreement. I wasn’t saying that Obama’s presentation as relatable was a weakness. If anything, it’s one thing that got him elected. I only meant that this might be why people like Greenwald expect certain things from Obama.

I actually made the case in my comment that Greenwald needs to look at what Obama has said in order to determine how he might act on certain issues.

By: Ron Chusid

Ron Chusid — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 05:07:03 +0000

I disagree with the above comment’s conclusion that Obama can take fault based upon the manner in which he presented himself. For anyone who took the time to look at what he was saying in detail, Obama made it quite clear that he did not plan to follow liberal Democratic orthodoxy. Even Greenwald admits this in his post writing, “In fairness, Obama has long made clear that this is the approach he intends to take to governing.” (From there Greenwald does cherry pick Obama’s history to make him look far more conservative than he is).

Throughout the campaign, and throughout his career, Obama has made it clear that he desires to transcend the old left-right battles, and that there will be conservative influence on his policy positions. Many of us supported him because of this. In the end I may or may not agree with the specifics of what he does, but I intend to at least wait to see what he actually does in office.

By: Michael Merritt

Michael Merritt — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 04:09:11 +0000

I was going to mention his alternative process if you hadn’t. This seems to me the best way to go, but such an approach will take time.

From his article: “The only good Democrats are the ones who scorn their “left-wing” base while embracing Republicans.”

I’ve heard similar but opposite arguments from some Republican pundits. And such an argument only provides evidence that Greenwald hasn’t been paying attention to what Obama has said on trials. Time has outlined it pretty well.

I think the trouble with many liberals is that they have a vision of what they think Obama should be rather than who he is. Actually, Obama can take some of the fault for that, as he did present himself that way. But being able to relate to him and seeing who he is are two different things.