Jimmy Carter says Guantanamo needs to close
Topic: Former Pres. Says Good
Another thorn in America's side lately (well really for the last three or four years) has been the issue surrounding our so-called, "enemy combatants" and their treatment in our various prison facilities best represented in the mainstream by Gitmo and Abu Graib.

This issue is complicated and awful and like the DSM it stinks of something so uniquely unAmerican yet so widely attributed to being American that it makes me sick. Naturally, I am not the only one. I really am not comfortable with the torture and murder of a taxi driver as what happened in Bagram's in Afghanistan a few years back. I really don't see a need for making a pile of naked prisoners in Abu Graib just for shits and giggles because these people are possibly terrorists.

To me, the core of the issue is not that these folks are, or could be, terrorists...It's that they are brown and we Americans ultimately could give a shit what happens to them...We're number ONE. And everyone else? Well, they ain't number one now is they? If these folks being brown and poor wasn't enough let us not forget that they also worship some other God. So, they are brown, poor, worship the wrong God and clearly are fundamentally fucking wrong and deserve what they fucking get. Or at least that is my take on this viewpoint.

Here is an interesting post from a conservative I got from The Local Boob's top correspondent, Jeff Sanderson:

"I'm still upset by all the copies of the Holy Bible that were surely present in the two World Trade Center Towers, the Pentagon, and on four jets that these Islamo-fascist lunatics destroyed on 9-11.

Where is the outrage over that? Where was the Muslim community to condemn that? Where is the religious sensitivity toward other religions from Muslims if they value a copy of a book so much?"

See?! Fuck all about all those "people" that died...What about the Bibles?! And here we are all worried about Newsweek allegedly flushing the Koran...Who cares?! They asked for it by slamming planes into OUR buildings, dammit! It's not OUR fault that they also happen to live on top of all our fucking oil either, dammit!

Jimmy Carter has some interesting things to say on this as well (macon Telegraph/AP):

"ATLANTA - Former President Jimmy Carter on Tuesday called for the United States to shut down its Guantanamo Bay prison to demonstrate the country's commitment to protecting human rights.

"Despite President George W. Bush's bold reminder that America is determined to promote freedom and democracy around the world, the U.S. continues to suffer terrible embarrassment and a blow to our reputation as a champion of human rights because of reports concerning abuses of prisoners in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Guantanamo," Carter said in a news conference following the close of a two-day human rights conference at his Atlanta center."

Fucking duh, right?

"In addition to closing Guantanamo Bay and two dozen other secret detention facilities, the former president said the United States needs to make sure no detainees are held incommunicado and that they all be told the charges against them.

His other recommendations included that the United States stop transferring detainees to foreign countries where torture has been reported and that an independent commission be created to investigate where terrorism suspects are held in U.S. custody.

Carter also said the United States should reaffirm its commitment to due process and international law, and assure that the Geneva Conventions on the treatment of prisoners are enforced.

Carter said many countries, including the United States, are using the campaign against terrorism as an excuse to restrict freedoms and silence human rights activists."

I am offended that this even needs to be said!? Remember that whole Justice for all thing? What ever happened to that? God dammit we have been highjacked by these wack-a-loons and no one even hardly gives a shit! Well, that is not exactly fair to say that NO ONE gives a shit per se...Afterall, there was this in the Washington Post today:

Post-ABC Poll: Americans Say War in Iraq Has Not Made U.S. Safer

For the first time since the war in Iraq began, over half of the American public believes the fight there has not made the United States safer, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.

While the focus in Washington has shifted from the Iraq conflict to Social Security and other domestic matters, the survey found that Americans rank Iraq second only to the economy in importance -- and that many are losing patience with the enterprise.

Nearly three quarters of Americans say the number of casualties in Iraq is unacceptable, while two-thirds say the U.S. military there is bogged down and nearly six in 10 say the war was not worth fighting -- in all three cases matching or exceeding the highest levels of pessimism yet recorded. More than four in ten now believe the U.S. presence in Iraq is becoming analogous to the experience in Vietnam.

Perhaps most ominously, 52 percent said the war in Iraq has not contributed to the long-term security of the United States, while 47 percent said it did. It was the first time a majority of Americans disagreed with the central notion President Bush has offered to build support for war: that the fight there will make Americans safer from terrorists at home. In late 2003, 62 percent thought the Iraq war aided U.S. security, and just three months ago 52 percent thought so.

Overall, more than half-- 52 percent -- disapprove of how Bush is handling his job. A somewhat larger majority-56 percent-- disapproved of Republicans in Congress and an identical proportion disapproved of Democrats."

Ah, so those magic numbers continue to slide downhill for this administration. Could it be that Dubya is already a lame duck President just a couple of months into his second term? No way to say for sure but it is looking good form the perspective of getting the winds of change actually blowing in 2006 and 2008. However, it looks less good when one considers that we have to deal with all this rotten ass shit from now to god knows how long thanks to our own shortsightedness in 2004.