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Saturday, June 10, 2006

Triple suicide at Guantanamo camp

Three detainees in the Guantanamo Gulag have killed themselves, two Saudis and a Yemeni - in an apparent suicide pact. (story here)

Rear Admiral Harris, the Camp Commander said , "I believe this was not an act of desperation, but an act of asymmetrical warfare waged against us."

I say Rear Adm. Harris is full of asymmetrical inhuman hypocritical shit.

For more than 4 years, hundreds of men (and some boys) have been imprisoned without charge, not given the basic rights entitled to prisoners of war under the Geneva Conventions, have been offered a military kangaroo court as a legal process, some have been tortured (by international standards), and have been given no contact with their families and loved ones. All in the name of a 'war on terror' with no boundaries, no rules but those made in Washington and a 'war' that is overtly political (domestic as well as international) and clearly economic.

Shut the Guantanamo Bay prison down.

Remove the President.

Link
Comments:
I can't believe how the President can sleep at night...
*big Sigh* - It's one of life's greatest mysteries...

Oh - and I need some help. Please go over to my blog and share your wisdom..
 
Ha, parallel posts this time! I voiced the same thing: Right on Gary!!!
 
Gary –From my Fathers WW2 diary “Will the end of this war bring about an end to the savagery?” Only time will tell. !

Who would have thought over 60 years!! later we would have this spectacle. !!

Fear is the catalyst to incredibly crude justifications and societal indifference to the systematic torture in these places. Physiological, mental stuff with prolonged isolation, deprivation of light, loud music for long periods, to inflict a far worse scarring than any of the horrific physical tortures which dishonoured previous societies.

I dont think the average person is aware fully of the horrific nature of this torture and how confessions are gained !!

A shocking indictment to a civilised society!!
 
I always wonder about people who attribute political motives to other peoples' suicides (I'm thinking of some of the weird theories scholars have had about Virginia Woolf's suicide, among others). I think people like the Admiral are missing some important gene or something.
 
Nerdine - my musical suggestions have been posted to your site - have fun!

Zee - I love the passion in your post... and your own struggle to place Islam on the radar in a way that works for you.

Lindsay - you are a wise man. Some of the worst torture techniques leave not a mark on the body. And these are clearly within the US version of "we don't torture".

Ju - how cool to connect to Virginia Woolf... and you're right - how sick to attribute political or other self-interest motives to the death of another.
 
hear, hear to that!

i'm marvelling at the appropriateness of REAR Admiral Harris's name. Harris - or Arris - is convoluted cockney rhyming slang here.
Arris=Aristotle
Aristotle=Bottle
Bottle (and glass)=Arse (or Ass as you might say in US/Canada)

What an Arse!
 
Canada apparently treats their prisoners in Toronto in a much more violent manner than Americans.

Canada does not even allow freedom of the press for checks and balances.
 
Yes Bohemian, there are bad situations in Canada too - although I'm not sure what you're attributing to Toronto. And I don't think Canada has several thousand hidden prisoners tucked away around the world in friendly places like Syria, Egypt and Uzbekhistan...

But hey, we can do better too.
 
Much more is expected out of America than the rest of the world.
 
I'm missing the Toronto thing too - lived there for years, and my brother still does. As for freedom of the press I've found the media coverage quite 'different' since I've moved to the US. Interesting for sure...


Us and Them
(Waters, Wright) ~ Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon

"Us, and them
And after all we're only ordinary men.
Me, and you.
God only knows it's noz what we would choose to do.
Forward he cried from the rear
and the front rank died.

And the general sat and the lines on the map
moved from side to side.
Black and blue
And who knows which is which and who is who.
Up and down.
But in the end it's only round and round.
Haven't you heard it's a battle of words
The poster bearer cried.
Listen son, said the man with the gun
There's room for you inside."


"You can chain me, you can torture me, you can even destroy this body, but you will never imprison my mind." ~ Mahatma Gandhi

They ARE free now, but how many, many more are not. It is horrifying.

It says everything about a person, about a community, about a country - the way they treat those with less power than themselves. I grieve for them all.
 
And finally EU is asking questions. My two cent: too little too late again!
 
Bohemian - you're right, more is expected of the superpower than claims the moral high ground.

Calooh - Pink Floyd indeed! Thanks.

DA - better late than never I guess (although not for the three men who just died).
 
We read that the plan to fix this problem is to issue the prisoners sheets for sleeping hours only. Our son's comment was: 'Oh yes, this sounds exactly like a housekeeping problem'.

Susan
 
Great comment from the son Susan! I love it.
 

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