Gitmo suicides
Posted by Moonage on 12 Jun 2006 | Tagged as: Conspiracy Theories, International Issues, National Politics, National Security, The Media
This is the headline CNN thinks you should see:
Suicides fuel Guantanamo criticism
Detainee deaths bring renewed calls for change, prison closure
The suicides of three detainees at Guantanamo Bay has sparked renewed calls for the U.S. prison camp to be closed.
Guantanamo should be closed. This is an occasion to reiterate that statement," EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner said on Monday as he arrived for a meeting of the bloc’s foreign ministers in Luxembourg.
This is the headline CNN doesn’t think you need to know:
Gitmo Detainee Was Cleared for Transfer
I have written on this before. Detainees are informed they’re going home and flip completely out. Whether it’s a riot or suicide, they wig out.
Now, I’m going to spell out the obvious once again to CNN what’s happening here. These birds know that Gitmo’s the best it’s ever going to get for them. Being sent back to Yemen or somewhere like that is a fate worse than hell and they apparently felt like taking the shortcut.
That’s the real story here folks.
2 Comments »
on 13 Jun 2006 at 12:56 pm 1.Londonboy said …
Moonage I strongly disgaree with you on this one. Guat should be closed if only for the reason that it is fuels more recruits to their cause. I was brought up in N. Ireland at the height of the troubles and I saw first hand what internment did to the catholic community. It certainly led to 100’s of recruits to the IRA. It is also doing America long term damage to Americas reputation as a fair and democratic society. I would ask you how you would feel if Americans where interned without trial, without any prospect of a release date. If they are terrorists charge them.
I can not be so glib as you about human life. I do not know why those men chose to take their lives. We can only guess. Suicide is a risk in any rpison but even more so in a plcae like Guat.
on 13 Jun 2006 at 2:01 pm 2.Moonage
said …
I’m not making the argument of whether it should be closed or not ( not on this post anyway ), I’m making the point that the press has mis-interpreted the reason why these guys are killing themselves once they are told they will be returning home. This is not the first time it’s happened. Too much of a coincedence to buy in order to believe they decided that after five years they decided they couldn’t take it any more right after being told they didn’t have any more to go.
And, that mis-intpretation is intentional. The US press is a little different than the Brit press. The Brit press tends to blurt things out in very clear English ( see the Heather McCartney stuff for example ), in the US, the media tends to subtly hint at what their message is. Their message is Gitmo should be closed, the reason is because they are killing themselves. It’s up to people in the US like me and others to point out the reason is not because they are there, it’s because they know what’ll happen when returned home. Some people have argued that due to these deaths and others once they have returned home, the humanitarian thing to do is keep them there until they agree to live peacefully in another country besides their home if they wish. You’ll never see that argument in the media. Gitmo has served a purpose for 50 years besides being a prison. It’s not going to be closed. When people tire of making it a political football, it will once again be forgotten like it was for 30 years preceding. I mean, the US has camps like this all over Europe and the Middle East. What is so special about Gitmo?