Gitmo, Politics and Martha Stewart

I think it is time for a little bit of perspective on the whole Guantanamo Bay issue.

To the Republicans--

You have done a very nice job of making non-issues the issue. Great! You get an A for Spin. Michelle Malkin and Ann Coulter have decided to mimic Martha Stewart and talk about Orange Glazed Chicken that was/is served to detainees. In fact, someone out there, Karl Rove I assume, has paid to publish The Gitmo Cookbook. Again--great! A+ for distortion, distraction and getting your irrelevant message out there.

Michelle Malkin only gets a B for her Desecration of the Day because as far as I can tell she didn't keep going with it and it kinda smells of, "Well they pissed on our flag so we can piss on their Koran." Not sure, but I don't think we should adopt a "they started it" or "they do it so why can't we" mentality when it comes to terrorists.

It might have been the right thing to do for the Republicans, Conservatives and "The Girls" I mentioned above to study a little about guerrilla war, fighting terrorists, and psychological operations before they threw their hissy fits about the idea of closing Git mo. Closing down prisons that have the reputation Git mo has is a certified, recognized tactic in the kind of war we are fighting. It is not some evil, liberal plot to destroy America.

They also might have done some good had they acknowledged the few incidents at Guantanamo and in Iraq where soldiers stepped over the line and did bad things. They might have made the whole discussion easier had they said that this stuff shouldn't happen and those responsible for it should be punished. Hell, the Administration might have done that too. If we had been honest about the number of things we had done wrong, accepted responsibility for them and punished the people who did it instead of dancing around and looking like we were hiding things--we wouldn't be having some of the problems we are having now.

To the Democrats--

Stop Now! If Git mo needs to be closed as a tactic of War, then close it. But let's not forget that prison is not supposed to be a nice place. Prison is not supposed to be a resort. And while we should not injure, torture or kill the prisoners we keep neither should we be turning down their beds and leaving mints on their pillows.

Decide on the standard of treatment for prisoners and follow it. Loud music, standing for a long time and making someone pee their pants, while not nice--is not torture.

Stop complaining about the things that are within the standards of questioning prisoners. It makes you look weak. It is also stupid. It also makes it impossible for you to be believed when you talk about serious abuses.

It is time for a long term plan on the detainees and enemy combatants we capture in this war--because the war is not going away.

We need to know what we are going to do with them--what standards are to be applied, how long we will keep them and what we are going to do with them once we are done with them.

Planning is key. The Republicans didn't do it with Iraq and we are seeing how well that is going so let's learn from their mistakes and plan for the future here.

Oh and Note to Military--If you are going to put underwear on someones head--that's not torture but taking pictures of it and other unseemly things is not a good thing. Throw away the cameras.

Chris

Comments

[Howard]

"Closing down prisons that have the reputation Git mo has is a certified, recognized tactic in the kind of war we are fighting." - Could you elaborate? Where is the parallel with any other prison closure? And I assume you mean it's a recognized positive tactic. Where is that parallel with any actual closure?

[Chris]

Hey Howard,

Colonel Hunt is travelling but will be posting on this issue soon, here is what I can tell you. Many of the military guys recommended destroying Abu Grahib after the fall of Baghdad because it was such a hideous symbol of torture and abuse by Saddam--instead of destroying it--we used it as our own prison and then we screwed up even more by doing things we shouldn't have and taking pictures of it. Guerilla Wars--which is what we are in now--are as much about hearts and minds and psychological control as they are about the other stuff. I am not saying Gitmo is a gulag or any of that crap what I am saying is that if it is a symbol to the otherside then closing it--is a recgonized tactic if combating this particular part of a guerilla war--I unfortunately can not give you more specifics--what I can do is ask you to come back when Colonel Hunt talks about it. Thanks, Chris.

[Lisa]

We did not destroy Abu Grahib because the Iraqis didn't want to destroy it. It was their decision to keep it open, not ours.

Lisa