Posts with the tag Guantanamo

The stain that is Guantanamo

Nazik — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 16:40:37 EST

Bush commented yesterday on the resignation of Cuban president Fidel Castro, promising that "the United States will help the people of Cuba realize the blessings of democracy." The irony of his statement is brilliantly captured in Steve Bell's cartoon here.

Unconstitutional: Yes, I am talking about YOU!

Preston Mitchum — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 13:01:22 EST

Being located in Washington, D.C. this semester, I have become semi-infatuated with politics. I have always had a strong interest in the matter, but never realized how much I loved it until this semester. Thank goodness I had this realization three months before graduation. At any rate, this atmosphere is amazing. There are so many political rallies, fundraisers, and events to support “your” candidate. Today is February 12th and I thought this blog would be about the Potomac primaries, or as some would call the good ol’ crab cake primaries. Unfortunately for most, it is not. It is about the CRUEL, HYPOCRITCAL, and CONTRADICTORY treatment of detainees at Guantanamo Naval Base in Cuba.

In case no one knows what is going on . . . the tragic attacks of September 11th struck fear in the eyes of many Americans, especially in the Bush administration. Thereafter, the Patriot Act was passed as well as doing away with anything to make our country feel “safe” inside our borders. I do not really think anyone would disagree that an event similar to this could reoccur, but many of our actions reached an all-time low. Muslims were constantly harassed for wearing a hijab, or for having the courage to not make the switch to an Americanized version of their last name. Later, the Bush administration did the un-thinkable. They arrested people who had some kind of a connection with Osama Bin-Laden, or ones that they thought did. I am not naïve, so I am fully aware that some of these detainees had something to do with attacks, but definitely not all of them. As a matter of fact, hundreds of prisoners have been released, but that does not get mentioned. On television, the detainees who are actually “guilty” of committing an atrocity are the only ones who get mentioned. In Rasul v. Bush (2004) and Boumediene v. Bush (2007), the Supreme Court ruled that the United States had jurisdiction and although Guantanamo Bay is a Naval Base in Cuba, the United States has to give habeas corpus rights to detainees.

Years later, however, the United States disagrees. Ironically, newly-appointed Attorney General discussed water boarding and essentially said it is not a practice of torture. I would love to see someone pour excrements on his face and see how much he loves it. Okay, I am done venting now. Today, I was reading the newspaper and go figure, six Guantanamo detainees were charged in connection with terror. Take a wild guess by whom . . . “our” administration. No need to restart the computer because you have read this right. How ironic is it that the United States do not want to grant habeas corpus rights to detainees at Guantanamo Bay because they feel they do not have the proper jurisdiction, but turn around and charge and want to persecute someone found guilty?

The people who attacked our country are wrong and should be dealt with accordingly. I am strongly opposed to the death penalty, so I will never offer that suggestion. All I am saying is, if the United States does not want to grant habeas corpus petitions because of issues with jurisdiction, then they should not try someone who may be found guilty

Heritage Foundation being converted into domestic Gitmo?

Ben Regenspan — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 15:28:30 EDT

You might have other, less plausible, ideas, but to me that's what appears to be going on at the conservative think tank, whose grounds have been obscured by ominous, barbed-wire-topped fencing for the past couple of weeks.

Since the photos below were taken, Heritage's Liberty Bell logo has been removed from the building's entrance and it appears that the forces behind this are now digging some sort of moat.

Given the organization's repeatedly-professed fondness for the prison camp in question, it's no surprise if they're remodeling to better approximate Gitmo (where "detainee procedures exceed the requirements of the U.S. Constitution, U.S. law, and customary international law.")

A Great Guantanamo Story And Some Other Plugs

Jesse Singal — Wed, 11 Jul 2007 16:00:47 EDT

Last fall I interned with the Washington Monthly. Save for my time as a college opinion columnist, some courses I took in high school and college, and my brief, half-assed period as a reporter for my high school paper (I vaguely remember writing a truly fantastic article about the results of a girls’ JV cross-country skiing match), I hadn’t had much exposure to the world of actual, practical journalism. My time at the Monthly was great. I learned a huge amount working with the magazine’s editors, Zach Roth, Rebecca Sinderbrand, and Rachel Morris. For anyone looking for a magazine journalism internship, I can’t recommend the Monthly highly enough.