Close the Guantanamo Bay detention facility?

So if we catch bin laden what do we do with him? Bring him to America to stand trial? Maybe. Show the world we can put the evidence on that shows beyond a shadow of doubt he plotted and funded the 9/11 attacks.

What if the burden of proof in our country can not be met to prove that he actually is responsible for the attacks? We all think he was. He claims he was. But without witnesses or a money trail how do you really prove it in our courts? If a crime happens in our country we know how they gather evidence. But if a war crime happens in a cave in Afghanistan, behind enemy lines, how do we gather evidence that our court system will accept?

Prisoner of wars are usually kept till the war is over… this war will last for decades. What do you do with these guys for the duration of this war? I do not have an answer.

So here is a question,
Bad guy is caught by our soldiers in a foreign country.
Bad guy case is reviewed by some military/civilian judges and there is a preponderance of evidence showing bad guy really is an enemy of our state and wishes to do us harm.

What do you do with him?
Lock him up and isolate him so he can not plot against us ever again, feed him three meals a day & let him pray until he dies?
Where do you lock him up? What rights does he have?

Pretty easy question when you are campaigning for the job. A little different when the buck stops with you.

 

The problem is that that the "War on Terror" is a perpetual war, like the "War on Drugs". I don't know how you declare victory over "Terror". Giving the CIA the ability to declare pretty much anyone they want as a terrorist and locking them up for life without trial has some serious implications for the future.

As an example, what if they start declaring those anti-government gun nut groups in Montana as terrorists? Then they could feasibly gather them up, and make them disappear without trial or any sort of defense, for the rest of their lives. I know it is a stretch, but then again I just saw a newspaper story where a mother of two threw a milk carton in an argument with an airplane stewardess, and for that she was charged and imprisoned with making Terrorist threats.

In fact, any act of fighting or making a disturbance in an airplane is now being prosecuted as terrorism. So technically if the CIA wanted to they could also spirit these people away to secret facilities, never to be heard from again.

History has shown time and time again that when you give the government a broad, poorly defined set of powers, then it will use and often times abuse those powers to whatever extent possible.

If the CIA knows so much about these detainees as to feel like they can imprison them without trial, then they shouldn't worry about bringing that evidence to a military tribunal and letting the accused defend himself. That is what we do in America.

 

While, I agree with you on some points... Please note that the FBI works in our own backyard so they would be the ones detaining those groups in Montana. They are on our soil and despite what some might think, no president (on either side of the aisle) would suspend their rights because of a "time of war". He would be making a huge stretch of his powers. (Lincoln did this to politicians in Maryland to prevent Maryland from seceding and joining the Confederacy. Suspended their rights for the duration of the Civil War.)

I don't really like the idea of what goes on airplanes, but in most cases, I don't think they are ever actually charged with terrorism. I could be wrong, and it is indeed a slippery state.

Third, they are not being held without trial. I'll agree that some may see this as a farce, but the Govt. is not getting everything they want in these cases. I'll agree that I think it is a bit ridiculous to have them for 7+ years without trial for some of them but I would rather them in Gitmo than free planning another attack.

 

Just to reference the airplane thing:

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-airline-felonies20-2009jan20,0,5468299.story

"A flight attendant confronted Freeman, who responded by hurling a few profanities and throwing what remained of a can of tomato juice on the floor.

The incident aboard the Frontier flight ultimately led to Freeman's arrest and conviction for a federal felony defined as an act of terrorism under the Patriot Act, the controversial federal law enacted after the 2001 attacks in New York and Washington.

"I had no idea I was breaking the law," said Freeman, 40, who spent three months in jail before pleading guilty.

Freeman is one of at least 200 people on flights who have been convicted under the amended law. In most of the cases, there was no evidence that the passengers had attempted to hijack the airplane or physically attack any of the flight crew. Many have simply involved raised voices, foul language and drunken behavior."

 

When you are strapped into a seat inside of a pressurized tube at 30,000 feet, you do not want anyone to do anything even remotely threatening. Sit down and STFU, or face the consequences.

 

A white woman with two toddlers? Looks like a terrorist to me! Oh noes, she threw her tomato juice! Quick, grab her before she starts taking over the plane by flicking peanuts! :rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl:

Her consequences should have been a charge of simple assault. These blanket terrorism laws take all common sense out of it. You can be pro Law and Order without being stupid.

 

So it would be justifiable if she was not a white woman?

Have you ever heard of diversionary tactics?

If you can't control your brats, don't get on the plane. It's not a Greyhound that can pull to the side of the road. There are laws to protect us. Disturbances on airplanes are not a joking matter.

 

Just so you know, and knowing is half the battle, it would be battery not assault. Assault has to do with threatening someone. Battery is actually doing or attempting to do physical harm.