A blight on a nation's soul

The American concentration camp at Guantanamo has been a disgrace from day one. It has been a stain on the American system of justice. But the entire administration of George Bush has been a blight on freedom, a cancer to the Constitution and makes a mockery of the principles of men like Reagan or Goldwater. There are few words available that adequately express my disgust for what Bush has done to the American system of government with his imperial presidency and contempt for limited government. He is a traitor to Constitutional government and has done far more damage to America than Osama bin Laden or Saddam Hussein could ever dream of doing.

Remember that the prisoners at Guantanamo have been held for years. They have no access to a court. They are not charged with any actual crime for which they can offer a defense. There is no system of justice for them. Now I have no doubts that some of these men were active in the Taliban or outfits of a similar odious nature. Neither do I have any doubt that some of these men are totally innocent of any crime or act of war whatsoever. Nor should we forget that these are not men implicated in the 9/11 attack on the United States. These are men who, for the most part, fought in their own country against foreign troops. Whether they knew the actual facts surrounding the invasion is open to doubt. They are not exactly the kind of people who get Time magazine every week. (Which is where Bush first learned of the massacre in Iraq by American troops.)

Does the US have a case against these men? I would have hoped they did. The longer they go without presenting it the less likely I am to believe them. This is an administration made up of psychopatological liars starting right at the top. So what they say is often proven to be totally false. Surely if they had a case they could have charged these men and put them before a neutrel court to hear the facts. They shun open evidence and prefer secret proceedings. That is the action of tyrants and liars not honest men who are protecting their nation. The use of torture in these camps is a violation of US law and a violation of numerous internatioan accords to which the US is a signatory. Soldiers who engage in torture and all those above them in the chain of command who condone such torture ought to be on trial themselves. That includes Mr. Bush.

Now we have three prisoners at Guantanamo who have taken their own lives. Throughout the years of torture, physical and psychological, and solitary confinement numerous prisoners have tried to end their torment by their own hands and failed. These three men succeeded. So what do the blithering idiots that the Bush regime has put in charge have to say about it? It is a stunning piece of idiocy.

One piece of bureaucratic ballast named Colleen Graffy said it was a "good PR move". Right these men after years of torture cut off from the world with no hope of ending their torment take their lives and this is supposed to be a "good PR" tactic that they drummed up. One night, no doubting sitting around with their advertising agency, they said: "Hey, why don't some of just kill ourselves for the publicity." So they did.

Individuals who were kept in this concentration camp for years and finally released say that detainees, including themselves, were constantly depressed. They saw their situations as hopeless as they had no legal rights in this unconstitutional prison system. (Note: One reason the Bush administration is using this base in Cuba for the concentration camp is to have it outside US judicial jurisdiction.) Under these conditions the men, and in some cases young boys, see life as hopeless and see no reason to continue living. Imagine if you are one of the many innocent ones there. You can not see your family. You can not go before a judge. No charges against you have been filed. There is absolutely no end in sight until the damned regime changes or the President is impeached or dies. And even then you can't be sure. It is a situation of total hopelessness. Of course such people will kill themselves. What else do you expect?

And then you have the Rear Admiral who runs the camp (emphasis on the Rear) saying that the suicides were an "act of asymmetrical warfare waged against us." The man is even more of an ass than the man he works for. And that takes a lot of work. Personally I think the members of the chain of command, from Bush on down ought to be given a Constitution, given 24 hours to read it, and told that unless they intend to stick to it they will charged with treason. And the sooner the better.