Allow the Al Quaida prisoners to continue to rot… but the Taliban prisoners? Why are they still in camp X-Ray?
The Taliban provided aid and comfort to Al Qaeda, so it is still undecided when and if they will be charged with crimes, Plus, they may still yield useful intelligence during interrogations.
Mullah Mohammed Omar was responsible for that. That would be like saying, after World War II, “the Nazi’s were responsible for the Holocaust, so we are still deciding what to do with them.”
Look I’m not argueing with you, but if I was simply a soldier ordered in to the Afghan army and never had anything to do woth Al Quaida, surely I could go home now?
Its alwas been my understanding (and I could be wrong) that the X-Ray detainees we’re genereally thought to be higher ranking Taliban and AlQaeda than just your average consigned foot soldiers, which is why they, of all the captured fighters, were specifically detained nearer to the US.
I don’t have a cite. Its just a general impression I’ve been getting from the news.
CJ
I have been out of the country for the last couple of weeks, so may have missed it, but exactly when did the war end? I do realise that the current administration (and other previous ones) have been playing fast and loose with the definition of war so since there really was no formal declaration of war there may be no formal declaration of the end. But I would expect a large headline in USA Today or something.
Thats the tricky part of this war. Its never really going to be over. Odds are most of the terrorists escaped. For all the oohing and ahhing about our satellite technology its only good if its pointed in the right direction, at the right angle, etc. But the administration is saying that in Afghanistan its just a mopping up operation now. If you define that as war or not is up to you.
If the war is over, someone should tell the Vice President.
CNN.com - Cheney: War in Afghanistan not over - March 24,2002
We don’t know who these people are- very few names have been released.
Various statements have been made by US Government spokespeople, but these have often been contradictory.
In previous threads (on BBoy) and lost in the great collapse) I have argued that the detention at Gitmo is highly morally and legally questionable.
From what we know of the five British detainees, it seems that none of them could seriously be considered to be high ranking Al Qaida.
Because Rumsfeld et al have total control of the information, and the US press is heavily self-censored on this issue, there is little ability to get real information on what is really happening.
I suspect that few of he detainees will be tried, but that most will be released in a manner that will minimize the embarrassment of the US Administration- this may involve holding them without trial for a considerable period.
In order to get a just outcome from this I suspect that we will have to rely on pressure (behind the scenes) from the Red Cross and Governments of the detained citizens, and public pressure from Amnesty International and Humans Rights Watch like groups.
When the history of this conflict is written, I believe that this set of circumstances (Gitmo etc.) will prove highly suspect.
The Taliban are no longer in power though. After WW2, Japanese POW’s were allowed to go home despite the fact there were still some Japanese “holdouts”.
Does the fact that the detainees have vowed to kill as many Americans as possible if given any chance have to do with keeping them locked up? Of course I don’t know for sure, but I think foot soldiers of previous wars weren’t as fanatical about killing you and your children during and after the war. For the current detainees, I suspect they feel the war isn’t over, and isn’t it ultimately the losers who decide when a war is over?
To the OP; war has changed along with everything else. New times, pal, and we’re making up the rules as we go along.
Good thought. I need to digest it, but it seems to hold a pearl.
Whoever is still in a position, physical or political, to fight decides when the war is over. Case in point: Taiwan. The PRC (People’s Republic of China) does not officially recognize the ROC (Republic of China, commonly called Taiwan to avoid confusion). It recognizes a ‘renegade province’ that it may one day ‘reclaim’ by force. Taiwan, however, has managed to ignore the posturing and set itself up as a successful little country with relations with the US and recognition from most of the world. China is the loser here (not that it would ever admit that), and it sure wants to grab Taiwan (it fires missiles ‘over the bow,’ as it were, every so often), but it knows we would enter the region with both feet and plenty of nuclear missiles if it tried. So it waves its arms and hoots across the Strait of Taiwan to the winners who have decided that the war (begun in 1948) is over.
Hell, there are some people in the American South who refuse to believe the Northern propaganda that the Civil War is over! :rolleyes:
Cite?
Well, what would you do with 'em?
From what I’ve read in the newspapers, the average Taliban foot soldier who was forcibly conscripted into the front lines as cannon fodder, was welcomed back into Afghanistan society. The foreign Taliban soldiers may not have a home to go back to. Many of them (along with Al Qaeda) were Chechens, Saudis, and their countries just may not want them back. So sad.
This is a matter of debate, so I’ll send the thread over to GD.