[CLUE-Talk] Charlie Daniels comments, article about Saddam's sons.

[Jeffery Cann]

On Thursday 27 March 2003 09:27 am, David Willson wrote:
> Jeff,

> And I think it is preposterous to group
> detention-under-questionable-circumstances with the horrific torture
> going on under the Hussein regime. 

I didn't compare the Guantanimo scenario with Saddam's treatment of the Iraqi 
citizens.

> Let me ask you, "Which would you
> rather endure: two weeks as Saddam Hussein's POW or two years as George
> W. Bush's detained illegal immigrant?  Where do you think your body and
> mind would be safer from permanent serious damage?  

I think your retort is preposterous - you are given me the slippery slope 
argument:  "We treat our POWs better than Iraq; therefore, if we treat the 
Guantanimo prisoners, we are not violating the Geneva convention".

But, you seemed to miss my point that BOTH countries are KNOWN to have 
violated the Geneva convention because they took pictures of prisoners and 
distributed them.

> Which of the two is
> going to allow you an opportunity to whine to AI about not having access
> to your lawyer?  

OMG!  So, you think the right to legal representation constitutes 'whining'?  
If you ever get arrested, maybe you'll waive your rights to counsel, since by 
equating it to whining, you trivialize it.  What's worse is that you implied 
that these prisoners in Guantanamo do not deserve legal representation, which 
is in fact a basic human right, as agreed to in the Geneva convention and 
signed by our government.

> I understand that keeping POW's without calling them POW's is
> questionable, but we need to be clear on the difference between inhumane
> and questionable.

Let's look at the facts:

1)  The USA government took pictures of prisoners captured in a conflict in 
Afghanistan.  These pictures were decidedly inhumane.  They show them 
kneeling in shakles and hooded.  This is a violation of the Geneva 
convention.

2)  The Iraqi government took pictures of prisoners captured in a conflict in 
Iraq.  These pictures were decidedly inhumane.  They showed soldiers bound.  
This is a violation of the Geneva convention.

Please, David, explain how these situations are somehow different?  

Jeff
-- 
Life is a tie. In the end, no one wins. 
 -- Oswald Neimo