Pacific Views
You've been had. You've been took. You've been hoodwinked, bamboozled, led astray, run amok. - Malcolm X
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| Pacific ViewsYou've been had. You've been took. You've been hoodwinked, bamboozled, led astray, run amok. - Malcolm X |
When the Bush administration built their superduper prison for the terrorists in Guantanamo, they said this prison camp was for the worst terrorists and that the prisoners held there could not have access to the courts without endangering the American public. The Supreme Court disagreed with this claim and ordered the administration to let the detainees have access to the courts. Well, as we suspected, a number of people picked up and thrown in Guantanamo were put there by mistake.
Yesterday the Bush administration released four more detainees to the British and asked that the British assess the danger posed by these detainees. After a day, the British returned their assessment: they released all four detainees to their families without charge.
Their release followed months of negotiations between Washington and London to address U.S. security concerns. Prime Minister Tony Blair's government had argued that the men should face a trial that met international legal standards, or be sent home.
The four Britons were among some 550 prisoners from 42 countries swept up in the U.S.-led war on terror and detained without charge.
Abbasi, 24, was reportedly arrested by U.S. forces in northern Afghanistan in December 2001. Belmar, 25, and Begg, 37, were arrested in Pakistan in February 2002, and Mubanga, 32, was detained in Zambia.
The Pentagon said British authorities had given assurances "that the detainees will not pose a continuing security threat to the United States or its allies."
Just think, the Bush administration had already decided that these four detainees should be locked up forever with the keys thrown away and no one would ever review their case except Bush who could keep them as long as he decided they were dangerous terrorists. And Alberto Gonzales told Bush that legally he had the authority to hold them (and use cruel and unusual actions on them) without having to worry about any oversight from anyone else.
And then remember that Alberto Gonzales still believes that Bush is a law unto himself as long as we are at war in a war that has no end. Tell your Senators to vote no on Gonzales.
Posted by Mary at January 26, 2005 09:49 PM | War on Terrorism | TrackBack(1) | Technorati links |