Part of Amnesty International's accusations were precisely that: ghost detainees (as in, vanishing without a trace) and secret prisons. None of this makes it right. Part of the problem of the defense of Guatanamo has been based on a few assumptions: namely that all captives are terrorists and that because we're treating them well in some aspects, that we're not torturing them. Both of those arguments are wrong and have been proven so by the facts released thus far.
Mind you, I think those of us criticizing the shenanigans of Guatanamo understand that this isn't pertaining to ALL troops or detainees, but that this is enough of a widespread problem across our bases, including the earlier Abu Gharib scandal, that it's not an isolated incident either. The fact that the administration has not been forthcoming, that the punishments have been weak and few, and that this continues to go on is atrocious. Chris Matthews, Tim Russert, and co. have done a miserable job at putting this into context for the viewing public, and it's a shame.
I agree with Incognito: Put up or shut up. Under the circumstances it is appropriate. If I was living in a crime ridden city and the police force was lacking personnel, I would enlist because not to do so
would be a direct threat to myself, my family, and my neighbors. This is, in effect, the situation here. I almost enlisted in 2001, despite having no favorable disposition to the military or administration, and I swore if my brother was a part of those attacks, I would. I'm glad I didn't have to, because my distrust of this administration has stemmed from years prior to those events.
The problem Kuramu is that we have the opposite problem: A large percentage of people that are adamantly backing an idea and are left doing everything "else", but we don't have enough people to actually put that idea into action. We're facing record lows on recruitment. We're not prepared and we don't have international support in carrying out our will (Gee, wonder why?). Again, under the circumstances, it is appropriate.
To quote Bill Moyers (
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=05/05/16/1329245:
But more galling than anything are all those moralistic ideologues in Washington sporting the flag in their lapel while writing books and running web sites and publishing magazines attacking dissenters as un-American. They are people whose ardor for war grows disproportionately to their distance from the fighting. Theyre in the same league as those swarms of corporate lobbyists wearing flags and prowling Capitol Hill for tax breaks, even as they call for spending more on war.
