[above: Fort Leavenworth, Kansas]
Are all American communities in a NIMBY (Not In My Back Yard) mentality when it comes to housing detainees who are now in Guantanamo?
Not hardly.
The city leaders of Fort Leavenworth have rejected the idea of having them come there. But click on this story about it & see the comments from local readers, most of whom are retired military or connected to same, which include:
“What a bunch of SPINELESS GUTLESS so called ‘Leaders’ we have in this town. … [M]ost of us who are former military in town are behind the [transfer], BECAUSE we know the capabilities of the USDB [prison] Staff to handle the situation.”
“Incarcerating them in Gitmo without due process is one of the many reasons that the US is hated in the Middle East. The only way to change our image is to resolve those issues. We are a prison city, that’s what we do.”
“I’d be very proud of my city for actually playing a role in the war. [It's] not just in DC or NY. … We should rename it the ‘Global (minus Leavenworth) War on Terror.’”
(h/t Andrew Sullivan.)
Those readers certainly have a patriotic perspective on keeping the country safe that we would be wise not to ignore.
They “get” what’s at stake.
Why can’t the rest of us?
A GITMO-ECTOMY
January 22nd, 2009, 1:00 pm by Dan LehrAbove: President Obama removes one of terrorism’s biggest recruiting tools.
Read about it here, & a discussion about whether it’s the right thing here.
Today I heard Rush Limbaugh on the radio call this move a “political” one.
To which I say: well, duh.
But not ‘political’ in the way Rush is meaning (appeasing the left).
For too long we have failed to capitalize on the United States of America’s greatest weapon: the idea behind this country & the ideals it champions.
Some discussion on Talk 102.3 this morning brought to mind an analogy. Styles, et al were discussing what to do with the Guantanamo prisoners - & how we can’t have them mingle with the “normal” prison population, because they wouldn’t last longer than 2 seconds. They noted that America-bombers & child rapists are subject to the prisoners’ “own form of justice.”
That’s a perfect way of looking at the mindset behind the creation of Guantanamo.
The problem with the system is that it doesn’t leave room for justice. It keeps terrorist suspects off the streets .. but because we’ve thrown them down a legal rabbit hole, one that’s in my view ultimately self-defeating, many of the legitimate terror cases will never be given true justice.
Closing Guantanamo takes away a terrorist recruitment tool, & joins the battle where it really should be fought, & ultimately will be won - not in a physical location, but rather inside the minds of everyone around the world.
& there’s nothing that says we can’t hold a suspect extra-legally. But those cases should be both temporary & reserved for the very few, ones which we have clear-cut evidence on, & not just people picked up off the battlefield, or arrested in cases of mistaken identities who have languished in Gitmo hell for years.
We as a people are far smarter than that, & it’s a breath of fresh air to have someone in charge who realizes this.
(I should also note that I have the utmost confidence we are perfectly capable of housing these prisoners on U.S. soil. The fears of “well, what if we have a prison break?” can be dispelled if you think through logically the scenario about exactly how much damage a person in handcuffs & an orange jumpsuit could really do while on the run).
We need to have faith in our country, & the multitude of legal precedents of our criminal justice system.
We should not be afraid to try these cases based on evidence & the rule of law, & the rights that our Founding Fathers believed to be inalienable - not just to American citizens, but to the entire human race.
I, for one, would rather die while upholding my great country’s ideals than give those ideals up in the name of security.
FURTHER READING:
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in: Barack Obama • Commentary • Patriotism • Terrorism | Post a Comment »