Original story Remember, these are not the actions of a "few bad apples", but rather the offficial policy of the last remaining superpower.
750 prisoners, 3 charged? Wow, that really just did my faith in the USG's intelligence/detective system a world of good. Good thing they're above the law and don't need to ever worry about being taken to task. But w/e as long as it's the 'Patriotic' thing to do.
This is just ridiculous. Even after he was released, and was no longer considered a threat, we felt the need to handcuff him and put a hood over his head. I applaud Mr. Hamad for being able to see through this administration's deeds, and still show hope toward the US and her citizens. I say we elect this guy to be our president! Sadly, we still have 10 more months of this administration. Even more sad is the sinking feeling that not much will change with the next one. -monkey
And people are up in arms about waterboarding, I think the stuff in bold is much worse. That smacks of incredibly bad intelligence to me, any body else agree?
hmmm I dunno, waterboarding, whilst being a physical act is more about the physchological affects of being on the edge of death and then being pulled back again, repeatedly. Where as getting beaten and mauled by attack dogs is actual physical pain. Although both have the same end result in mind, people confess when they just can't take anymore.
Nobody ever accused George Bush of intelligence... I'm just amazed at the time period between deciding to release him and actually releasing him - over 2 years. I'd like to know the reason for that. What's even more amazing is that the US is doing this stuff, the whole world knows the US is doing this stuff, but nobody does anything about it.
What you want to do, liberate them from there unelected dictator. <Joke sorry> Unfortunately since all our economies are so closely interlinked it wouldn't really be possible to impose sanctions with out hurting every one, apart from moral indignation i'm not sure what else can be done beyond taking a personal stance and not buying American goods or not visiting the country but that doesn't really help any one but your own conscience since there president doesn't even listen to his own people what does he care about a group of foreigners.
Hit the nail on the head there with the ecomomy issue. I wonder what it would be like if it wasn't so entwined, I don't think the world would be a better place would it? Quite and interesting thought actually.
A human being without a mind is just a shell. All forms of torture are designed to break down mental barriers. Psychological torture is more dangerous than you think. I'm always scared when people like you get into power.
I know nobody will ever do a George W and invade the US to get rid of the dictator (more's the pity), but as far as I'm aware, nobody's even got as far as the moral indignation stage. It's the implication that because the US is such a major world player, it makes whatever they do OK. It's like not chastising a child because they might have a tantrum. In the longer term, not chastising leads to more problems than tantrum would cause in the short term. If the US thinks it can get away with ignoring the Geneva convention at Guantanamo, what will it try to get away with further along the line?
Don't knock it until you've tried it. In any case, I think people are up in arms about any form of torture. You point out two reasons why nobody stands up to the US, basically: 1. Many (but not nearly all) Western governments buy into the "War on Terror™" crap. Whether this is genuine fear or just economic collusion is another question; I think it is both, but the latter more than the former. 2. The US is the biggest superpower in the world, and there is nobody to stop it. It knows that and the world knows that. Cue a lot of cognitive dissonance reduction by the "Allies" that are walked all over by the US, in order not to appear (or feel) weak and exploited/abused ("Oh it's alright, we don't mind the US shipping bombs through the UK to Israel to bomb Lebanese civilians without asking us first, really...").
