Guantanamo

Please read Nicholas Kristof's column in the New York Times today.

I went on to read the comments section (there's a link to his blog at the end of his column, and you can read/post comments there is you like), and while the overwhelming majority seem to agree with Kristof that Guantanamo is a flawed, even inhumane travesty of a holding pen, there are some who resort to the old "un-American" defense, which enrages me past control. Wasn't this country built on dissent? Aren't we supposed to question the government's decisions, especially when we hear about inhumane, un-Christian behavior? The number of detainees who have been released over the past 7 years, with a sheepish, "sorry, you were innocent all along"... surely that gives us pause to wonder whether a good number of these people were wrongly captured, and further tortured with no end in sight? When Condoleeza Rice and Robert Gates are urging the president to shut down this prison, do you then consider them un-American too?

I'm not denying that there are probably a number of terrorist or terrorist-like people there; when you round up that many folks, there's bound to be a handful. But is that enough to justify the definite ruining if not termination of hundreds of innocent lives? I thank my stars that no one I know is in there, and I pray for their comfort, their exoneration, a quick release and most importantly, their healing. And thank goodness that, at least on the campaign trail, all three candidates (Clinton, McCain, Obama) pledged to shut down this little piece of hell.

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aarti