I found your editorial “Suicide at Guantanamo” to be fair and balanced. Guantanamo has been demonized time and again by those who have no idea of what is happening, having never visited the facility to observe for themselves how the captured prisoners are being treated.
The latest firestorm at Gitmo is the suicide of three of its prisoners. It would not be presumptuous to suggest that the suicides were purposeful and planned to help the jihad and to hurt the U.S., for isn’t suicide a badge of honor among jihadists?
I would venture that the same individuals who are complaining about rampant prisoner abuse at Gitmo and who are demanding that Gitmo be shut down are the same individuals who regularly express displeasure and even hatred of Bush administration policies, especially those connected with the fight to win the global war against terror (are we really fighting a war?), whether it be in Iraq or in other countries around the world.
It is folly to believe that Gitmo prisoners should be afforded the rights of prisoners as outlined in dictums set by the Geneva Conventions. Gitmo detainees captured on the battlefield, and at other venues throughout the world, were not fighting in organized armies representative of countries; they were individuals drawn together from all over the world to fight the evil West in a jihad to rule the world with their brand of Islam.
Geneva Conventions rules are not theirs to have nor can they be demanded for them by others. If Gitmo is shut down, where should its detainees be incarcerated? Should they be housed in Illinois or in other state detention facilities? I don’t think so.
