Evidently our friends down in Venezuela were a bit embarrassed last week when Venezuelan citizen and reigning Miss Universe, Dayana Mendoza, posted on her blog how nice things are at the US Navy base at Guantanamo Bay. Ms. Mendoza was forced to remove these posts. As a vocal critic of our prosecution of the War on Terror (I will continue to use that term, even if the Obama Administration is unable to comprehend that we are engaged in a war) in general and Guantanamo Bay in particular, the Venezuelan dictator, Hugo Chavez, could not tolerate a fellow Venezuelan making observations like she "saw the jails, where they shower, how they recreate themselves with movies, classes of art, books."
Somehow, Islamists attending art classes and watching movies doesn't fit the Guantanamo narrative of torture and isolation. Certainly, things would have been much better for ole' Hugo had Miss Universe posted that she had seen the inmates being sodomized and US servicemen flushing Korans down the toilet. But, once again, there was none of that.
As I've stated before, the closing of the terrorist detention facility at Guantanamo Bay is bad policy and a sign of weakness by President Obama. In a rush to fulfill a campaign promise to placate the left at home and the left around the globe, he announced the closing of the prison without any clear plan about what to do with the detainees (remember, I suggested that they be freed outside of the Kennedy compound in Hyannis Port - at least that's a plan).
It is ridiculous to say that the United States cannot hold these terrorists for an indefinite period of time without trial. During World War II, no one suggested that the Roosevelt Administration could not hold German and Japanese prisoners of war for the entire length of hostilities. The detainees at Guantanamo should not even be conferred the status of prisoners of war, but rather that of unlawful enemy combatants. Therefore, we should be able to hold them until the hostilities end. It is irrelevant how long that is. We did not start the War on Terror, the Islamists did. It is their fault that the war continues. They can end it at any time.
The President feels that we must close Guantanamo Bay because it has become a symbol of torture to the international community. Since were bowing to international pressure over what certain things symbolize, maybe the President would like to remove the Statute of Liberty from New York Harbor because that is a symbol of freedom and that has got to make third world dictators uncomfortable.
Somehow, Islamists attending art classes and watching movies doesn't fit the Guantanamo narrative of torture and isolation. Certainly, things would have been much better for ole' Hugo had Miss Universe posted that she had seen the inmates being sodomized and US servicemen flushing Korans down the toilet. But, once again, there was none of that.
As I've stated before, the closing of the terrorist detention facility at Guantanamo Bay is bad policy and a sign of weakness by President Obama. In a rush to fulfill a campaign promise to placate the left at home and the left around the globe, he announced the closing of the prison without any clear plan about what to do with the detainees (remember, I suggested that they be freed outside of the Kennedy compound in Hyannis Port - at least that's a plan).
It is ridiculous to say that the United States cannot hold these terrorists for an indefinite period of time without trial. During World War II, no one suggested that the Roosevelt Administration could not hold German and Japanese prisoners of war for the entire length of hostilities. The detainees at Guantanamo should not even be conferred the status of prisoners of war, but rather that of unlawful enemy combatants. Therefore, we should be able to hold them until the hostilities end. It is irrelevant how long that is. We did not start the War on Terror, the Islamists did. It is their fault that the war continues. They can end it at any time.
The President feels that we must close Guantanamo Bay because it has become a symbol of torture to the international community. Since were bowing to international pressure over what certain things symbolize, maybe the President would like to remove the Statute of Liberty from New York Harbor because that is a symbol of freedom and that has got to make third world dictators uncomfortable.
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