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March 23, 2007
Shut Down Guantanamo
Today we learn that Defense Secretary Gates pressed for the closure of the Guantanamo prison camp, stating that the reputation of the camp was so tainted that any legal proceedings there would automatically be viewed as illegitimate. Condoleeza Rice joined him in urging the President to shut the camp down, and move the detainees to facilities in the United States.
Mr. Gates’s arguments were rejected after Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales and some other government lawyers expressed strong objections to moving detainees to the United States, a stance that was backed by the office of Vice President Dick Cheney, administration officials said.
Why am I not surprised? Cheney and Rumsfeld have always coveted the power to detain and torture at will.
Given that most of the men and boys held at Guantanamo really are enemies of the United States (though we do know that at least some of them have been innocent), there is every reason to bring them under our rule of law, on our soil and in line with military justice. Well, except for this:
Some administration lawyers are deeply reluctant to move terrorism suspects to American soil because it could increase their constitutional and statutory rights — and invite an explosion of civil litigation. Guantánamo was chosen because it was an American military facility but not on American soil.
Our Constitution is stronger than this. Our people are stronger than this. Our rights, as declared by the founders, are not weakened by extending them even to our enemies. On the contrary, this is how we maintain our moral standing in the world. Denying rights, torturing and detaining and extraditing people both guilty and innocent, makes us no better than any savage people. We are better than that.
So I'm glad to hear that Gates at least tried to shut the place down and restore the rule of law. And even though he failed, he did have one good effect.
In the end, Mr. Gates did succeed in killing plans to build a $100 million courthouse and detention complex at Guantánamo, after he argued that the large and expensive project would leave the impression of a long-lasting American detainee operation there and that the money could be more effectively spent elsewhere by the Pentagon. Mr. Gates approved a far more modest facility at one-tenth of the cost.
That's something anyway.
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Marking the fourth anniversary of the invasion of Iraq, Slate has put together a slide show of a somber series of black and white photos taken at Guantanamo. Take a look and see for yourself.
Posted by jnfr at March 23, 2007 08:47 AM