Infinite MonkeysNo matter who is president come 2009, the terrorist prison at Guantanamo Bay are numbered. McCain wants to close it. (You can see a video where he says he'll do it on his "first day" as president here.) Hillary wants to close it. So does Obama. Even President Bush has given up on defending what has become the most distorted (lied-about, really) war-time prison in history.
Of course, none of our future presidents talk much about the peril of putting those terrorists in a holding pen on American soil. But opening up ordinary American courts to terrorists -- and giving them all the rights that thieves and tax cheat enjoy -- comes with many terrible complications that will surely hamper this country's ability to defend itself.
But perhaps its time to hear from the terrorists themselves. Because judging from this article in the esteemed magazine Foreign Policy, the terrorists never had it so good at Club Gitmo. At the hotel proper, the terrorists get halal meals, in keeping with their religion. In Hotel Gitmo, U.S. Troops handle the Holy Koran with gloves, lest they soil it with their infidel skin. And they are allowed to pray five times a day, and are aimed toward Mecca so they can stay right with Allah.
That's quite a bit better treatment than Islamists get from other governments -- including those who have made a sport of attacking America's alleged "gulag" in Cuba. Foreign Policy made a list of "the worst places to be a terrorist." Among them:
France: The French actually have some of the world’s toughest and arguably most effective antiterrorism laws. In France, terrorist investigations are overseen by a special unit of magistrates with unprecedented powers to monitor suspects, enlist the help of other branches of law enforcement, and detain suspects for days without charges. Additionally, prosecutors have a mandate to pursue terrorists abroad if the suspect or victim is French. France is also not shy about deporting Muslim clerics it views as threatening.
Hmmm. The connection between "tough" anti-terror laws and their effectiveness seems clear. Good on the frogs! We continue ...
Jordan: Jordan’s intelligence service, the General Intelligence Department, has exploited close ties with Sunni tribes in Iraq’s Anbar province to provide its U.S. and Israeli counterparts with valuable intelligence about the structure and financing on terrorist organizations.
Gee. I hope the Jordanians get warrants for that surveillance. Time for the United Nations to look into that, I guess ...
Egypt: After a wave of terrorist attacks and political victories for the Muslim Brotherhood in the early 1990s, Hosni Mubarak’s government opted for a strategy of ruthless repression in combating the threat from terrorism and political Islam.
"Ruthless repression" of terrorists. Nice work, Egypt. Keep it up.
Singapore: After 9/11, the island country strengthened its crackdown on terrorist funding, and it recently passed legislation giving the Army wide-ranging powers to pursue terrorists domestically.
Nice work, that keeps the world safer, from the land of lashes for petty theft.
Russia: Russia has carried out a ruthless campaign of military suppression in Chechnya, and when it hasn’t been attacking militants, it has joined with them by elevating former rebel Ramzan Kadyrov to the presidency of the now largely peaceful region.
From a "ruthless campaign" to a "largely peaceful region." Sounds like extreme measures that make life hard for those who slaughter children in a school house in Beslan, but effective in protecting innocents.
You might notice a nation conspicuously absent from Foreign Policy's list -- the kind of list that the "international community" would condemn.
That nation would be the United States.
Gitmo is a "gulag"? Hardly. More like this:
(HT: Cliff May at The Corner)
Posted by Dr. Zaius at May 28, 2008 12:04 AM | TrackBackWell sure, the accomodations are nice. But do they get frequent flyer miles?
Posted by: rabidsquirrel at May 28, 2008 06:52 AMI hear the Soviets used to do a pretty good job of suppressing any threat to the state, as well. And the Chinese still know how to keep over a billion people in line, particularly those terrorists in Tibet.
And fortunately, since the United States government has a history of uninterrupted benevolence toward innocents, so we can be sure that they will NEVER incarcerate someone who isn't an actual terrorist.
Yes sir, the end always justifies the means. Always.
Posted by: Monkey RobbL at May 28, 2008 11:16 AM