

Gary McKinnon is currently fighting extradition to the United States



Comments     Threshold


By Viditor on 4/17/2006 9:59:35 AM , Rating: 2
Gitmo is reserved for unlawful combatants

That is it's intention, yes. However, it has gone beyond that in MANY cases...and there is absolutely no way of assuring that Guantanamo Bay is behaving legally.

The scariest that George W has done in his Presidency is to systematically erode one of the most basic tenets of the US legal system..."Presumption of Innocense".

When he chose to invade Iraq while inspectors were still on the ground, he presumed Hussein guilty of having WMD before any evidence was given. This is of course exacerbated by the fact that his presumption was completely wrong!

The prisoners at "Gitmo" are examples of exactly the same thing...they are imprisoned and presumed guilty before any evidence is given. Further, he has insured that any mistakes in these presumptions are capable of being covered up. This is the kind of power that Emperors used to wield, and to fear it is unjust is a very sane reaction.

I am a US citizen living overseas among people who have long respected and loved the US (though they have always made jokes about us, just as we have about them). I have watched that respect dwindle away to fear and disgust over the last few's one of the saddest things I've ever experienced and I must say that I'm a bit ashamed (even though I didn't vote for him). The only silver lining I can see is that at the end of this year the Republicans will lose the House and Senate, which will drastically reduce his ability to do much more harm.

