Guantanamo Bay

Just learning about Gitmo has really opened the door to the whole conflict in the Palestinian/Israel/US war going on in Gaza. Especially through the opinions of one fellow blogger (see http://actseattle.wordpress.com for more details). It's amazing how society functions, what with how many different opinions of, well... just about everything, there are. How do we honestly know if we're making the right decision. Should we live with strict rules that govern us, or simply try to live in accordance to the greater good. But there too, we come to an opinion- what is the greater good, what should the rules be? 

Before digging into the background of Guantanamo Bay and the issues surrounding it, I simply assumed that it's closure would be a good thing. I'd heard that it's treatment of detainees there was somewhat... well, can we say torturous? The peace-keeper and humanitarianism in me cried out at hearing the of the great atrocities that seemed to be occurring there on a regular basis. I had little knowledge of the reasons for the atrocities. Why were these "convicted terrorists" being treated so harshly? More importantly, how did the US government get away with such treatment without the UN looking into it?

Aren't there such things as Geneva Conventions that guarentee the rights of prisoners of war? Why does it seem that these conventions are not being upheld by the UN? That is there job- is it not?

Firstly, of course, there is always the issue of censorship. As I was looking through some of the press releases of George Bush concerning Guantanamo Bay, it seemed that everywhere I searched I found him, in one way or another, avoiding taking about what was really going on at Gitmo. He used the phrase "for the sake of national security" in many of these interviews. Like, if he talked about what was going on at Gitmo at all, it would lead to a breach of security that would result in another terrorist attack. (now maybe I'm missing some vital information, but in my opinion, I think he's partially making up excuses.)

Secondly though, I found that there were many American's against shutting down Guantanamo Bay. In fact, by one report, it seems that the majority of Americans were against shutting it down.

"More Americans say the prison at Guantanamo Bay military base in Cuba should not be closed (45%) than say it should (35%), but 20% have no opinion on the matter." (taken from http://www.gallup.com/Home.aspx on February, 6th, 2009).

It would seem that they share the views that Islamic radicals are incapable of doing anything but killing "infidels". Said one such US citizen, "...Islamic radicals are driven by an unstoppable single minded gowl of following Allah for the conversion, submission, or death of infidels. They will use every means possible, every weapon possible, adn exploit every weakness to the accomplishment of this goal." US citizens seem to be so entirely convinced of such a thing that they feel that they have no option apart for keeping the Guantanamo prison open for their own security. They feel that the Guantanamo detention facility seperates them from dangerous prisons by bars, Marines, guns, walls, barbed wire, and 100 miles of ocean. 

Hmmm. This is one of those situations that is hard for me to form a conclusion about. I believe too much in humanity and goodness in human beings to believe that torture is the only possibility. Maybe those who would believe otherwise would call me naive. It's hard for me to understand killing being the only possibility for finding peace. I can't come to terms with this belief system. 

But i believe that if the US wishes to stand for freedom and equality, they cannot restrict those wishes of freedom and equality to themselves if they have any desire to have good relations with other nations. 

All in all, I think President Obama was wise in ordering the closure of  Guantanamo Bay. From what I've seen in his  presidency policies so far, i would say that he's working hard to create better relations with the world community, which i quite frankly appreciate.  The only issue now is that it seems that there are very few countries willing to offer asylum to these detainees. I hope that Canada is up for it's all-so-familiar role as peacekeeper.

I'm not saying treating "terrorists" (or prisoners of war in the "war on terror") better will make them want to kill others any less. Faith- based beliefs run deeper than that and I understand that. But surely we are above torture for the sake of torture. 

I would appreciate anyone's comments on this topic if they have a better understanding of it, or a different opinion.